March 27 (UPI) — Brent crude oil reached $111.41 per barrel Friday morning after two Chinese ships were blocked from passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil prices have steadily climbed since Monday despite President Donald Trump backing off his plan to bomb Iran’s energy infrastructure. Friday’s price hike follows a 5.7% jump on Thursday.
Trump said he is postponing his plan to attack Iran’s infrastructure for 10 days amid positive talks with Iran; talks that Iran denies having. The president maintained that negotiations are continuing, posting on social media Thursday that they are “going very well.”
Iran informed the United Nations earlier this week that it would allow non-hostile vessels to pass through the strait. China is an ally of Iran.
China Ocean Shipping Company had two container vessels seek passage through the Strait of Hormuz overnight before being turned away. The company said in a social media post that this suggests “the situation in the Strait of Hormuz remains highly unstable.”
Trump told his cabinet on Thursday that Iran has granted passage to 10 oil tankers this week. He called it a “present” to the United States.
“They said, ‘To show you the fact that we’re real and solid and we’re there, we’re going to let you have eight boats of oil — and they’ll sail up tomorrow,” Trump said. “They then apologized for something they said, and they said, ‘We’re going to send two more boats.'”
Global markets have continued a downward trend since the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
The S&P 500 is showing losses for the fifth consecutive week. It is the first time it has done so in four years. European, South Korean and Taiwanese market indexes also slid on Friday.
The national average for a gallon of gas in the United States is $3.98, while diesel prices are 43% higher than they were before the war, reaching $5.38 per gallon.
