Oil prices climbed on Tuesday after President Donald Trump moved to charge ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz and reinstate a blockade of Iranian ports, stoking fears of fresh disruption to global supplies.
Just after 6:00 a.m. ET, West Texas Intermediate futures were up about 3.3% at $80.70 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, gained 4.3% to trade at at $86.91. That extends a 9.6% surge in the previous session.
Trump said in a Truth Social post Monday that the US would levy fees “at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped” through the strait, declaring America the “GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT.”
In the same post, he said Washington would restore its blockade of Iranian ports near the chokepoint. US Central Command said in a statement that the blockade would take effect at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday.
Truth Social
The moves mark a sharp escalation in the standoff with Tehran. Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply flows through the Strait of Hormuz, making it crucial for global prices.
Traffic through the waterway collapsed after Iran began attacking vessels in March, and had only started to recover following an interim agreement between Washington and Tehran.
On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said the strait was closed to all traffic “until further notice,” according to state media, a claim the US disputes, with Central Command saying Sunday the waterway remained open to lawful transit.
The Strait of Hormuz is open to all vessels seeking to lawfully transit the international waterway. U.S. forces are positioned and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available despite unwarranted Iranian aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary… pic.twitter.com/FS3TUBOZEj
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 12, 2026
Even so, oil remains well below its wartime highs. Brent peaked at $126 a barrel on April 30, but has fallen sharply over the past two months as global supply has recovered.
Output jumped by 4.1 million barrels a day in June following the US-Iran ceasefire, according to the International Energy Agency’s monthly oil market report published Friday. However, it remained roughly 9.4 million barrels a day short of prewar levels.
