Brent Hits $118 as Hormuz Shock Blows Out Spread With WTI

Brent crude jumped to $118.2 per barrel on Tuesday while WTI sat at $102.5, leaving an unusually wide gap between the two benchmarks as the market reacted to fresh rhetoric around the Strait of Hormuz and the growing risk to fuel flows outside the United States. The apparent immediate trigger was a social media post from President Donald Trump urging countries struggling to secure jet fuel because of the Strait disruption to buy from the U.S. or go to the Strait and "take it" themselves. "...the U.S.A. won't be there to help you anymore, just like…