Brent crude climbed above $106 per barrel early Friday after President Donald Trump said no ship “can enter or leave” the Strait of Hormuz without US Navy approval, marking a sharp expansion of the blockade beyond Iranian ports.

The international benchmark stood at $106.80 as of 01:00 GMT, up nearly 5 percent from Wednesday’s close, when it had surpassed $100 for the first time in two weeks. US stocks fell overnight, with the S&P 500 dipping 0.41 percent and the Nasdaq Composite dropping 0.89 percent.

In a Truth Social post, Trump ordered the Navy to destroy any Iranian vessels laying mines in the waterway, shortly after the Pentagon said it had seized a tanker carrying sanctioned Iranian oil for the second time in under a week. “It is ‘Sealed up Tight,’ until such time as Iran is able to make a DEAL!!!” the president wrote.

Shipping through the strait, which normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas, remained at a standstill. Iran continues to demand the right to decide which vessels pass, while the US blocks Iran’s maritime trade. Maritime intelligence platform Windward counted only nine transits on Wednesday, seven on Tuesday and 15 on Monday — against a pre-war daily average of 129 reported by UNCTAD.

Trump’s declaration followed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ seizure of the Panamanian-flagged MSC Francesca and Greek-owned Epaminondas, which Tehran alleges tampered with navigation systems. Greece has denied the Epaminondas was captured, saying the vessel remains under its captain’s control.

The jump restores the oil-price environment Sri Lanka’s import bill faced at the peak of the closure, narrowing any near-term scope for consumer fuel price cuts. Brent had briefly eased after Tuesday’s Trump-ordered ceasefire extension.

Sources