Chicago, March 9 -- Oil prices eclipsed $114 per barrel for the first time since 2022 on Monday as the Iran war intensified, threatening production and shipping in the Middle East. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, surged past $114 after trading resumed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. That was up 23% from its Friday closing price of $92.69. The war's toll on civilian targets grew early Monday as Bahrain accused Iran of striking a desalination plant vital to drinking water supplies, and oil depots in Tehran smoldered following overnight Israeli strikes.
The increases followed the US crude price jumping by 36% and Brent crude rising by 28% last week. Oil prices have surged as the war, now in its second we...