Brent crude rose as much as 6% on July 8, 2026, trading above $78 a barrel — its highest level since the US-Iran ceasefire was struck in June, according to The Guardian. CNBC put the intraday peak higher still, with both Brent and WTI briefly exceeding 6% gains before settling near $78.50 CNBC. Trading Economics logged Brent at $77.50, up 4.50% on the session — a smaller but still substantial move that leaves the benchmark 10.42% higher year-over-year despite a 15.25% slide over the preceding month Trading Economics. The New York Times described the rise as Brent's highest level in over two weeks The New York Times.

The trigger was a wave of Iranian strikes on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran attacked at least three fossil fuel tankers in the 48 hours before July 8, including a Qatari-flagged LNG carrier hauling roughly 8 million cubic feet of gas that was left at risk of exploding, and a Saudi crude tanker damaged in the same corridor Reuters. The attacks, reported by Axios and cited by Reuters, involved missiles fired at the vessels on Tuesday, July 7 — a date corroborated by both the New York Times and NPR The New York Times. Iranian state television confirmed the LNG tanker had come under attack after "ignoring warnings," though it stopped short of claiming direct responsibility KVCR/NPR.

Donald Trump responded by declaring the ceasefire "over." "I don't want to deal with them anymore," he said, according to the BBC BBC. CENTCOM confirmed the U.S. had conducted retaliatory strikes on Iranian targets on July 7 in response to the tanker attacks CBS News. The Treasury also moved to revoke the license permitting Iran to sell oil after the three tankers were hit Reuters.

Shipping through the Strait has effectively frozen. At least four oil and gas tankers reversed course rather than attempt the transit, per ship-tracking data cited by the Guardian, and Rystad Energy's Jorge León said traffic through the chokepoint had "essentially stopped." The Strait's shipping risk classification was raised to "severe" Reuters. European gas markets moved in tandem: the Dutch TTF benchmark climbed 5% to €49.00 per MWh, and the UK equivalent rose to 116.75 pence per therm The Guardian.

The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly a fifth of global oil consumption on a normal day, and the current disruption is not the first this year. An effective blockade began in March 2026, and the broader US-Iran war — which started February 28, per a White House report — had already disrupted flows of about 20 million barrels a day from Gulf producers at its height White House. Brent touched above $110 a barrel in late May during that phase of the conflict, more than the roughly $78 level reached this week, which suggests markets still see some difference between an active blockade and the current uncertainty over whether shipping will resume.

The war itself was waged by the U.S. under the name Operation Epic Fury, first invoked in White House statements in March and April White House. An earlier two-week ceasefire, announced by Trump via Truth Social in reference to a "10 point proposal" and described by him as "a double sided CEASEFIRE" Truth Social, gave way in June to a more formal Memorandum of Understanding signed by Trump and Vice President JD Vance White House. That MOU is the arrangement Trump now says is finished.

CENTCOM's public record over the preceding weeks shows the arrangement had already been under strain before this week's strikes. On June 27, the command reported a Panama-flagged tanker carrying more than two million barrels of crude had been attacked near the Strait CENTCOM, and U.S. forces separately disabled an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel attempting to breach the naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman. CENTCOM also convened a Regional Security Dialogue with 12 nations in Bahrain on July 1 — diplomatic groundwork that the events of July 7 have now overtaken.

Domestically in Iran, the timing carries its own weight. The burial ceremony for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is scheduled for later this week, meaning the tanker campaign and the U.S. response are unfolding alongside a leadership transition whose implications for Tehran's decision-making chain are not yet clear from public reporting.

Whether the ceasefire's collapse proves rhetorical or operational will likely be settled by whether tanker traffic resumes in the coming days. A prolonged halt through Hormuz would ripple well beyond crude benchmarks, given the chokepoint's role in LNG flows to Asia and Europe alike. For now, markets are pricing renewed risk rather than a full return to the $110 highs of May — a gap worth watching as the next 48 hours unfold.