LONDON — The price of Brent crude oil rose by 2% to $116.89 a barrel in early trading on Monday after President Donald Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform that if a deal was not agreed and the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened, the U.S. would take further action. Trump also posted about seizing Iranian oil assets, writing: "To be honest with you, my favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran, but some stupid people back in the US say: 'Why are you doing that?' But they're stupid people."

In a separate post, Trump wrote: "We will conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet 'touched'. This will be in retribution for our many soldiers, and others, that Iran has butchered and killed over the old Regime's 47 year 'Reign of Terror'." He also wrote: "Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don't. We have a lot of options."

Brent crude reached $119.50 a barrel on Monday, its highest level since the U.S.-Israel war with Iran began on Feb. 28. During March, Brent had traded as high as $119.50 a barrel, its highest level since June 2022. The benchmark rose by 54% in March, marking its largest monthly increase on record, surpassing the previous record of a 46% rise in September 1990 after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. Prices later dipped to $112 a barrel later in the day.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said: "There are bets that crude could rise to $150 and even to the $200 per barrel level if the war doesn't end quickly. I believe that demand would be heavily hit if prices go that high. Above $120-130 per barrel, global recession odds would take the upper hand and tame upside pressure."

Approximately 3,500 additional U.S. troops arrived in the Middle East, and Houthi rebels in Yemen fired ballistic missiles at Israeli sites. Dutch month-ahead natural gas futures rose by 1% to €54.70 per megawatt-hour.

In the United Kingdom, average petrol prices reached 152 pence per litre, the highest level in 28 months, according to the RAC. Diesel prices reached 181.2 pence per litre, the highest since December 2022, the RAC said. Prime Minister Keir Starmer planned to meet Monday afternoon with bosses from Shell, BP and Equinor, and with executives from the finance, insurance and shipping industries, to discuss the Middle East crisis and potential emergency measures to contain the crisis resulting from the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband were scheduled to virtually meet with G7 finance and energy ministers on Monday.