The Brent crude oil barrel, a benchmark for Europe, has experienced a session of strong rallies, comfortably exceeding $80, levels not seen since mid-June. The intraday advance is around 8.6%, after the President of the United States, Donald Trump, declared the ceasefire with Iran broken and threatened the Asian country with new bombings, in addition to warning of a possible blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The escalation of tension between Washington and Tehran intensified this Tuesday, when a projectile hit a tanker flying the Qatari flag. This incident triggered a response from the US military, which has attacked more than 80 Iranian positions, and led the occupant of the White House to declare the end of the ceasefire.
In parallel, the WTI barrel, a benchmark in the United States, reached $76, which implies an increase of close to 8% on the day.
The impact has also extended to the gas market. The TTF contract traded in the Netherlands, which serves as the European benchmark for natural gas, has become up to 5% more expensive during the day, reaching 48.9 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh), in direct reaction to the latest events in the Middle East.
The worsening of the conflict has immediately shaken energy markets, with the price of crude oil adding more than five euros per barrel in a matter of hours, after significant increases were already recorded in the previous session.
Donald Trump has described the leaders of Iran as "scum" and "sick people," followed by other insults, after declaring the ceasefire and memorandum of understanding over. "As far as I'm concerned, it's over. I don't want to deal with them anymore. They are scum. Do you know what scum is? They are sick people. They are led by sick people. And they are vicious, violent people," he stated from Ankara, Turkey, where the NATO summit is taking place.
Already during the night, the US Army's Central Command (Centcom) announced the launch of "strong" attacks against Iran in response to Iranian "aggressions" against ships in the Strait of Hormuz, in a new escalation of tensions around the strategic waterway.
Trump has gone further by threatening new offensives against the Asian country in the coming hours and with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to maritime traffic, a corridor through which approximately one-fifth of the world's oil passes and whose activity was barely beginning to normalize after months of interruptions due to the conflict.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has condemned the latest attacks in the Hormuz area, where nearly 6,000 sailors remain trapped on board ships that cannot leave the region with security guarantees, and has urged the parties involved to act with the utmost restraint.
At the same time, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has revoked this Tuesday the authorization for Iranian crude oil exports included in the preliminary agreement signed with Tehran, as a direct response to the attacks.
Iranian authorities have "strongly" rejected the Treasury's decision, which they consider an "explicit violation by the United States of Article 10 of the Islamabad memorandum of understanding," signed just over two weeks ago, on June 18.
In parallel, Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denounced a "military aggression by the U.S. terrorist Army" against "supervision and surveillance centers" located on the country's southern coast, which, in its opinion, constitutes "a clear violation" of the United Nations Charter and a "flagrant violation" of the memorandum of understanding, "which states that military operations must stop."