Oil continued its recent surge Sunday, hitting $100 per barrel for the first time since July 2022 as the ripple effects from the U.S. war on Iran continued to hit global markets.
In addition to oil’s rise, S&P 500 futures declined 1.5%, Dow futures plummeted 900 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures slid 1.2%, indicating U.S. stocks were poised to continue last week’s descent.
Oil rose again after a record 35% jump last week. In addition to surging oil prices, U.S. retail gas prices also soared to a national average of more than $3.450 per gallon.
The last time oil and gas prices surged to these levels was immediately following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
The war continues to hit oil infrastructure and push refiners to cut production. Kuwait’s state oil company said it was trimming output, while the United Arab Emirates’ state-run oil company said it was “managing” some output, hinting at possible production cuts.
The Strait of Hormuz, off southern Iran, remains essentially impassible for most oil and liquefied natural gas tankers as they try to reach the global market.
Consumers have already begun seeing increased prices at their local gas stations, and at least one analyst predicts prices will rise further. “I now estimate the chance of the national average reaching $4/gal in the next month is now 80%,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan said on X.
This year, the price of U.S. crude oil has skyrocketed more than 80% as the Trump administration ramped up its rhetoric against the Iranian regime, even before striking the country and killing Iran’s supreme leader.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly rebuffed concerns about the rising price of oil and gas since the war began, telling Reuters on Friday, “I don’t have any concern about it,” adding that prices will “drop very rapidly when this is over, and if they rise, they rise, but this is far more important than having gasoline prices go up a little bit.”
On Sunday, Trump said on social media that spiking prices were “a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace.”
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