Oil prices hit $100 mark as U.S.-Iran tit-for-tat strikes stoke supply worries

BREAKING: Brent crude tops $100 a barrel for the first time since July, as US-Iran tit-for-tat strikes stoke fears of further Middle East supply disruptions. Goldman Sachs warns oil could exceed $120.

Brent crude just topped 100 dollars a barrel.

That's the first time since July, and the trigger is the same conflict that keeps refusing to cool down. American forces destroyed five Iranian crude tankers on Tuesday after Tehran tried and failed to hit a US warship, and oil traders did the maths overnight. Brent touched 100.01 this morning, West Texas jumped nearly two percent to almost 95.

Goldman Sachs isn't calling the top either. Their commodities chief Daan Struyven says 120 dollar oil is definitely plausible if Gulf exports stagnate, and he says the odds of that scenario are rising as shipping attacks broaden. Their base case still has exports recovering through workarounds and new pipeline capacity, but base cases have had a rough seventh month of this war.

Remember, strikes were paused for a month before this. The pause is over, and the oil market just priced that in.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.