Oil markets went crazy in less than an hour. A major geopolitical alert caused crude oil prices to rise 13% in just 60 minutes, from $77 per barrel to $88.
US intelligence says that Iran has begun to place dozens of naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, which is responsible for about 20% of the world's oil flows. Analysts are even more worried because they think Iran has only used a small part of its capacity. It still has 80 to 90 percent of its minelaying vessels available, which means it could deploy hundreds more mines.
In response, US forces attacked 16 Iranian ships that they thought were getting ready to mine. Reports say that 9 of those ships went down. The US Central Command called the operation a deterrent action.
Donald Trump also warned on Truth Social that Iran would face "military consequences unlike anything seen before" if the mines are not removed right away.
The threat to the Strait could affect a huge part of the world's energy supply. This route carries about 15 million barrels of crude oil and 4.5 million barrels of refined fuels every day. Countries like Iraq and Kuwait don't have any other good ways to export goods, so if any of them close, energy shipments could get stuck in the Gulf right away.
