𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The price of oil surged nearly 5% Wednesday as U.S. officials talked down the chance of new peace talks after an 11th straight night of strikes on Iran and with major disruption now facing two of the world’s key supply routes.

Subscribe to read this story ad-free

Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.

International Brent crude oil rose as much as 4.9% to more than $95 per barrel for the first time in almost six weeks. U.S. crude oil rose as much as nearly 5.1% to nearly $89 per barrel.

Those prices pulled back slightly by the afternoon. U.S. crude closed higher by 2.9%, at $86.83 per barrel while Brent closed up 3.4%, at $94.07 per barrel.

While Brent is widely considered the international oil benchmark, it also influences the retail cost of gas in the U.S.

Those pump prices rose again Wednesday, extending their climb above $4 per gallon. The national average price rose 4 cents overnight to $4.06 per gallon, according to motor club AAA data tracked by NBC News.

Treasury yields spiked, following oil’s latest jump and its likely impact on inflation. As of midmorning trading, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was hovering around 4.65%, its highest since May.

As a result, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 6.75% Wednesday, matching its highest level of the year.

Since the start of the month, oil prices have gained 25% and are now up more than 50% since the start of the year. That move has largely erased the drop in prices that came after the U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in mid-June.

Rhetoric escalates tensions

President Donald Trump had declared that tentative deal, which was aimed at ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, “over” on July 8.

But on Wednesday, Trump ratcheted up the rhetoric once again.

“Any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran,” he posted on social media.

Overnight, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the U.S. remained open to diplomacy with Iran, “but right now they don’t seem to be serious about that.”

Rubio added that the U.S. would continue to try to protect commercial shipping.

But in the last two days, the U.K.’s Maritime Trade Organization has reported multiple attacks on vessels in the area. In at least two of those, said the maritime monitoring group, which is aligned with the British navy, crews were forced to abandon ship.

Those attacks are one reason traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remains extremely low.

On Monday, only 13 ships crossed the vital waterway, and on Tuesday that number was only nine, according to an analysis of ship movements by MarineTraffic.