Brent crude above 90 dollars as US and Iran trade strikes around the Strait of Hormuz
Brent crude is above $90 a barrel after the US and Iran traded strikes around the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend. CENTCOM says an Iranian drone hit the tanker Kiku on June 27; Iran's IRGC says it then struck US sites in Kuwait and Bahrain. The strait is a key route for global
Brent crude has pushed above $90 a barrel after the United States and Iran exchanged strikes around the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend. According to CENTCOM, an Iranian attack drone hit the oil tanker Kiku on June 27, damaging its bridge, after a separate vessel was targeted days earlier. US forces responded with airstrikes on Iranian missile, drone and communications sites along the country's southern coast, including locations on Qeshm Island. Early Sunday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had struck US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain, and Bahrain's foreign ministry reported being targeted by Iranian drones. The strait is one of the most important chokepoints in global energy trade, and the renewed fighting is already affecting shipping. War-risk insurance for vessels transiting the Gulf has become prohibitively expensive for many operators, and some are now routing cargoes the long way around the southern tip of Africa, adding roughly ten days to two weeks to delivery times. The exchange tests a fragile interim agreement that Washington and Tehran reached earlier this month. Based on reporting from NPR, CNN and CENTCOM statements.