The Brent crude, a benchmark for Europe, has rebounded strongly to approach $74 a barrel, after advancing more than 2.5%, after a projectile hit a tanker flying the Qatari flag in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz.
In the last hours of trading, Brent was trading at $73.91, with an intraday rise of 2.64%, although it had momentarily exceeded $74, a threshold it had not reached for at least ten days, in a recent context of containment in crude oil prices after the provisional peace agreement between the United States and Iran.
At the same time, the WTI barrel, a benchmark in the United States, registered an advance of 2.35% during the session, standing above $70.
During the early morning, peninsular time, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (Ukmto) reported that a projectile of unidentified origin hit a tanker and caused a fire on board. The vessel was sailing about eight nautical miles (around 14.8 kilometers) east of the Omani town of Limah.
Subsequently, Qatari authorities held Iran responsible for the "unacceptable attack" in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz and demanded that Tehran "immediately put an end to all practices that undermine regional security or threaten the security of international maritime navigation."
"The attack against the Qatari vessel 'Al Rekayyat' while transiting near the Strait of Hormuz constitutes an unacceptable attack on the security of international maritime navigation, the security of global energy supply, and a grave and manifest violation of International Law, particularly the rules that guarantee freedom of navigation and safe passage through international waterways," stated the spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mayed al Ansari.
In parallel, Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, asserted that he will not resume negotiations with the United States "if the threats continue," in response to the statements of US President Donald Trump, who said he would "finish the job" if an agreement is not reached between Tehran and Washington.
"We can knock down their bridges in an hour, we can cut off their energy supply, all those beautiful, big, modern plants they built," the White House tenant pointed out on Monday. "Now they don't have money. We haven't given them money," he noted, before adding that all of that could be destroyed "in a small part of an afternoon."