Crude oil climbed above $72 per barrel on Wednesday and is up more than 5% so far this week, following new US air strikes in Iran and Washington’s decision to revoke a waiver that had allowed Tehran to sell crude on global markets. These moves came after a series of recent attacks on vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, including a Qatari LNG carrier and a Saudi oil tanker. The renewed confrontation has put the interim US–Iran peace agreement in jeopardy and heightened the risk of fresh disruptions to global energy supplies, as shipowners and regional producers may now be more reluctant to use this critical shipping route. The escalation represents a sharp break from earlier expectations of an impending supply glut, which had been driven by OPEC+’s higher production quotas and efforts by Middle Eastern producers to ramp up output.