Brent oil price rose above $76 a barrel after the United States struck Iran and removed a temporary waiver on sanctions for Iranian oil. The move pushed September Brent futures to $76.07 a barrel at 04:00 GMT, the highest since June 23.
The benchmark climbed as much as 3 percent on Wednesday, reversing a slide that had taken prices back to pre-war levels. For traders and energy buyers, the immediate issue is not just the strike itself but the chance that shipments through the Strait of Hormuz face more disruption.
US Treasury Department waiver ends
The US Treasury Department revoked its 60-day waiver on sanctions on Iranian oil, and transactions will no longer be allowed after 12:01am EDT on July 17. The new order rescinds authorisation for any new transactions, including purchases or loading, after Tuesday, tightening the channel for any fresh trade tied to Iranian crude.
That is the practical shift in the market: the oil price is now reacting to both military escalation and a formal cutoff on sanctioned transactions. Saudi and Qatari officials, along with US officials, blamed Iran for attacks on three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, adding another layer to the supply risk.
Kazem Gharibabadi warns Tehran
Kazem Gharibabadi said Tehran would take “decisive actions to safeguard its national interests and security” in response to the waiver revocation. He also called the move a “blatant violation” of the memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran on June 17.
US Central Command said it was “launching a series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.” The language matters because it puts shipping, not just oil output, at the center of the confrontation around the Strait of Hormuz.
Straight line to Brent volatility
Tony Sycamore said the memorandum’s language was deliberately vague on control of the strait and traffic management, while Saul Kavonic said he expects oil prices to remain elevated as hazardous conditions persist and emergency oil stockpiles wind down. Kavonic added that Iran could seek to cement its control over the Strait of Hormuz in the coming weeks, a path he said could keep passage below 50 percent of pre-war levels for many months.
For now, the market is pricing the risk that the disruption outlasts the latest strikes. If the escalation stops quickly, Brent can give back part of the move; if it spreads, the sharpest pressure stays on the waterway that carries the trade route at the center of the shock.
