International crude oil prices surged on Friday, with Brent climbing to $116 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate rising above $102, as U.S. President Donald Trump accused Iran of attempting to push up energy prices ahead of the November 3 midterm elections amid reports of attacks on commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.
As of 3:15 p.m. West Africa Time, Brent crude rose by $2.81, or 2.48%, to $116 per barrel, while U.S. benchmark WTI gained $3.01, or 3.03%, to $102.50 per barrel.
The gains came after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed that seven commercial vessels had been hit in the region, raising fresh concerns over the security of energy shipments through one of the world's most important oil transit routes.
Trump accused Tehran of fabricating attacks to drive up oil prices as the United States approaches its midterm elections.
“Iran is doing everything they can to drive up the price of oil prior to the U.S. Midterm Election,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, alleging that Tehran was inventing attacks even as more oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz.
The IRGC Navy claimed that four vessels involved in ship-to-ship oil transfers in the northern Persian Gulf caught fire on Wednesday. It alleged that the vessels were transporting oil for an American company along routes Iran considers illegal.
The Iranian force also claimed that three other vessels struck naval mines west of the Strait of Hormuz and were left disabled.
However, the claims had not been independently verified as of Friday. Iran did not identify the vessels or their owners, while the UK Maritime Trade Operations had issued no corresponding incident reports. Information about possible casualties and oil spills also remained unclear.
The absence of official maritime alerts does not necessarily rule out the reported incidents. UKMTO said in an October 16 assessment that some vessels were not reporting attacks directly, making it difficult to establish the full extent of maritime security incidents in the region.
If confirmed, the reported targeting of vessels conducting ship-to-ship transfers could widen the risks facing commercial shipping and add further pressure to an oil market already grappling with elevated transportation costs and geopolitical uncertainty.
The Strait of Hormuz remains a critical passage for international energy trade. Disruptions around the waterway have increased the importance of alternative shipping arrangements, including ship-to-ship transfers, while raising concerns about the time and expense required to move crude oil to international buyers.
The latest price gains also come amid an extraordinary increase in tanker freight costs, which are adding significantly to the cost of delivering crude oil even where supplies remain available.
Shipping approximately two million barrels of crude from the United States to Japan aboard a very large crude carrier now costs around $81 million, compared with approximately $9 million for a similar voyage a year earlier.
At current rates, the transportation bill amounts to about $40.50 per barrel, compared with roughly $4.50 per barrel a year ago.
The increase means buyers must account for substantially higher freight expenses when deciding where to source crude oil, with transportation costs potentially making some previously profitable international shipments uneconomical.
The surge in shipping costs has disrupted established trade flows, leaving some heavy crude supplies accumulating in the Americas while refiners in Asia and Europe face difficulties securing economically viable supplies.
Higher freight charges have made some U.S. crude shipments less attractive to Asian buyers, prompting refiners to consider alternative suppliers in the Middle East and Latin America. Such changes in purchasing patterns can affect regional crude prices, refinery margins, and the availability of particular grades of oil.
The imbalance illustrates how oil markets can experience shortages in one region even when crude is available elsewhere. The problem is not always a lack of production but the cost and difficulty of transporting the available barrels to the refineries that need them.
Tanker rates have also been driven higher by increased insurance premiums, longer shipping routes, and vessels spending more time at sea or waiting to complete cargo transfers. These factors reduce the effective availability of ships, leaving buyers competing for a limited number of vessels suitable for particular voyages.
Some very large crude carriers have recently generated daily earnings exceeding $1 million, compared with approximately $55,000 per day in 2025, reflecting the intensity of competition for shipping capacity.
Although freight rates have eased from some of their recent peaks, they remain elevated as geopolitical uncertainty and the extensive use of ship-to-ship transfers continue to constrain vessel availability.
The pressure extends beyond crude oil. Refined petroleum products, including petrol, diesel, jet fuel and fuel oil, also depend on maritime transportation in international markets. Higher shipping and insurance costs can therefore increase the delivered cost of these products, adding to inflationary pressures in countries that rely heavily on imported energy.
For oil-importing economies, the combined effect of rising crude benchmarks and expensive transportation can increase the cost of securing supplies. However, the extent to which these increases reach consumers depends on factors such as refinery margins, inventories, taxes, domestic distribution costs and exchange rates.
The latest developments also highlight the limitations of increasing oil production as a response to supply pressures. Additional barrels may not immediately ease prices if transportation constraints prevent them from reaching the markets where demand is strongest.
With Brent at $116 per barrel and WTI at $102.50 as of 3:15 p.m. WAT, traders are confronting a market shaped by both the price of crude itself and the growing expense of moving it across international routes.
The unverified reports of vessel attacks have added another layer of uncertainty, while Trump's accusations have intensified the political dimension of the oil price surge. The scale and duration of any further price movements will depend partly on developments around the Strait of Hormuz, the security of commercial shipping and the availability of tankers to move crude to global markets.