A customer fills their vehicle with fuel at a gas station on April 13, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Crude oil prices rose again Sunday as tensions between the U.S. and Iran kept tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway in the Persian Gulf.
Prices jumped 6.4% to $87.90 within an hour of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s opening on Sunday and stayed in that range for much of the rest of the day.
Why you should care:
Sunday’s rebound erased much of the decline posted two days earlier when prices fell more than 9% in the wake of Iran’s announcement that it would allow passage through the strait again. The next day, Iran blocked off traffic again and fired on several vessels.
Dig deeper:
In addition to Tehran closing down the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remains in effect. On Sunday, a U.S. destroyer seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel that had tried to evade the blockade.
Increasing oil prices over the weekend are a sign that traders are concerned about how soon the strait will open again and how long it will take for ships to start moving the vast amounts of oil that the world gets from the Middle East.
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What they're saying:
Energy Secretary Chris Wright did not express too much optimism about gasoline prices in the U.S. returning to the $3 per gallon level anytime soon.
On CNN’s "State of the Union" on Sunday, Wright said he did not expect gas to return to that level until next year. However, he indicated that the highest prices may be over, saying, "prices have likely peaked, and they’ll start going down."
The Source: Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press. This story was reported from Orlando.