Oil surges past $125 as fears of prolonged supply disruption grow

brent crude broke past $125 a barrel on tuesday, its highest level since the conflict began. the strait of hormuz blockade entered its third week, with no diplomatic resolution in sight. traders are pricing in a prolonged supply gap — about 20% of global oil passes through that chokepoint daily. the blockade started after iran's navy seized two commercial tankers near the strait. the us and uk have deployed additional naval assets to the region, but shipping traffic remains at a standstill. saudi arabia has said it can't immediately reroute enough volume to offset the loss. brent has now gained roughly 30% since the blockade began. the last time oil traded this high was in march 2022, right after russia's invasion of ukraine.