Oil hits $90 US per barrel for first time in 2 years

U.S. crude prices rose above $90 per barrel on Friday for the first time in more than two years.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the benchmark for oil prices in North America, ended the day at just over $91. That’s up from around $67 a week ago — on the eve of the new war launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran and its proxies.

The widening war in Iran and the risk of Iranian drone or missile attacks has shut down almost all tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the only sea passage out of Persian Gulf and the conduit for 20 per cent of the world economy’s oil needs.

Tankers travelling through the strait, which is bordered in the north by Iran, carry oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Iran.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox News on Friday that he expected the price surge to last “weeks, not months.”

“Look, Iran has been an escalator of energy prices [for] 47 years, the whole history of their regime,” Wright told Fox & Friends. “We’ve got a little bit of an interruption right now, to finally put an end to their ability to wreak havoc, to kill Americans, and to terrorize their neighbours.”

Gas prices in the U.S. have risen an average of 34 cents per gallon in the past week, to $3.32, or 120 cents per litre.

Gas prices in Canada after airstrikes were first launched last weekend rose to 135.3 cents per litre, according to Gasbuddy.com. The average a month ago was 128.8 cents.

Gas wizard, a website that tracks gas prices nationwide, predicts the price per litre on Saturday could be nearly 153 cents.