Oil prices climb past $87 as US-Iran ceasefire collapses

TEHRAN, Iran — Oil prices rose by about $3 a barrel after a US-Iran ceasefire broke down and the US Army threatened to reimpose a maritime blockade on Iranian ports. Brent crude, the global benchmark, reached $87 before US markets opened, its highest level since June 12. The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate traded near $81, up 3.6 percent. Earlier in the session, Brent futures touched $84.98 and West Texas Intermediate hit $79.79. The status of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway in the Persian Gulf through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passed before the war, has again become uncertain. Tehran announced over the weekend that transit through the strait had been closed, while US President Donald Trump said the United States would act as the strait's guardian and charge commercial ships a fee equal to 20 percent of their cargo's value. US Central Command said a maritime blockade on vessels entering and leaving Iranian ports would resume at 4:00 p.m. US Eastern Time. A blockade the United States imposed in mid-April and maintained for roughly two months had previously driven oil prices sharply higher.