NEW DELHI, March 23 - Oil prices swung violently Monday as escalating threats against Middle Eastern energy facilities clashed with news of resumed Iranian crude exports following a temporary U.S. sanctions waiver.
Brent crude settled at $112.84 a barrel, up 65 cents, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 84 cents to $98.75. Both benchmarks had earlier dropped more than $1, reflecting extreme market uncertainty. The Brent-WTI spread exceeded $13-the widest in years.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to "obliterate" Iran’s power plants unless the Strait of Hormuz reopened within 48 hours-just one day after suggesting he wanted to wind down the conflict now entering its fourth week.
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned that attacks on Iranian infrastructure would trigger irreversible damage to regional energy assets.
"Trump is trying to show he can out-escalate-and that way ends in scorched earth for Gulf infrastructure," said Amrita Sen of Energy Aspects.
The International Energy Agency’s Fatih Birol called the crisis "very severe," worse than both 1970s oil shocks combined. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz-handling 20% of global oil and LNG-has nearly halted. Analysts estimate Middle East oil output has plunged by 7 to 10 million barrels per day.
Iraq declared force majeure on all foreign-operated oilfields. Basra Oil Company’s output collapsed to 900,000 barrels per day from 3.3 million.
Meanwhile, Indian refiners are resuming Iranian oil purchases, with other Asian buyers considering similar moves.