International oil prices surged more than 3% after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the sinking of any vessels laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
As of 3 p.m. on April 23, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange were trading up 3.56% at $96.23 per barrel.
Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, also rose 3.40% to $105.33 per barrel.
Trump said on his social media account that he had “ordered the sinking of any vessel laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, even if it is a small boat.”
Earlier, U.S. Central Command said on April 11 that it had begun full-scale mine-clearing operations in the Strait of Hormuz using U.S. Navy destroyers and underwater drones.
Iran is believed to have deployed advanced mines in the Strait of Hormuz following U.S. and Israeli airstrikes in late February.
Rising tensions in the Middle East appear to have driven the rebound in oil prices. As crude prices surged, U.S. stock markets also declined, with the Nasdaq falling more than 1%.
