Crude oil prices spike after US Navy destroys 5 Iranian tankers

US military has destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers early on Wednesday (September 9) near the Strait of Hormuz. The latest incident has further increased concerns that the waterway could become effectively inaccessible to portions of commercial shipping. Crude oil rates spiked on Wednesday morning in early Asian trade, with Brent crude up nearly 1% to $97.92, WTI Crude at $94.33, up 1.40%, and Murban crude, a Gulf benchmark, at $110.8, up $4.00 or 3.75%. Iran has earlier warned it could make enforcement of the US blockade increasingly dangerous and expensive, by targeting not just commercial tankers but also US warships as well as vessels suspected of supporting the blockade. The attacks on Iranian tankers are in response to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeting a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the past two days, according to the US Central Command. "The US warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol regional waters. No American personnel were harmed."