Brent crude briefly tops $100 a barrel on Hormuz attack fears

Brent crude briefly reached $100 per barrel on September 9, 2026, its first time at that level since July, as U.S.-Iran tit-for-tat strikes around the Strait of Hormuz stoked oil supply worries. West Texas Intermediate had risen 41% since the conflict's start, and diesel climbed to nearly $6 a gallon, a 55% increase from pre-conflict levels.

Why this matters. A return to triple-digit Brent pricing signals traders now expect sustained Hormuz disruption rather than a temporary spike, feeding through to global diesel and shipping costs and increasing pressure on governments to intervene diplomatically or militarily.