Image Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN / Contributor / Getty Images 
Oil hit $115 a barrel on Sunday as the Iran conflict continues and the likelihood of a US ground invasion grows.
Oil was trading at $115.89 on Sunday evening after hitting a high earlier than day of $116.75.
On 27 February, the day before Operation Epic Fury began, oil was at roughly $72 a barrel.
New concerns—the possibility of a ground invasion and the entrance of Yemen’s Houthi rebels into the conflict—are shaking investor confidence.
In a March 27 post, ING Bank detailed the upside risks to oil prices.
“The scale of supply at risk remains significant—around 8 million barrels per day are already offline, and a much larger volume of flows through the Gulf remains vulnerable—so the geopolitical premium is unlikely to fade meaningfully,” the bank said.
If Iranian export facilities on Kharg Island are damaged, prices could reach more than $120, with some analysts suggesting prices could hit $200.
The average forecast for this scenario is $153.85 a barrel.
Prices could range anywhere from $50 to $150 if the war ends soon but threats to shipping in the crucial Strait of Hormuz persist. The wild range of estimates is a clear indication of the current level of uncertainty investors are dealing with.
In the US, the national average gas price on Sunday was $3.98 per gallon, a dollar higher than a month before.
California had the highest average gas price, at $5.86 a gallon.
In a March 29 post on X, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at Gas Buddy, said, “Rough calculations show Americans collectively have spent ~$8 billion more on gasoline in the last month since the U.S. attacked Iran, a number that will surpass $10 billion in the days ahead.”
In an interview on Sunday, President Trump said his current priority with Iran is to take control of the country’s oil.
“To be honest with you, my favorite 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,” the president told The Financial Times.
The President compared his plans for Iran with the raid against Venezuela that took place in January, in which President Nicolas Maduro was deposed and Trump partnered with senior figures in the Venezuelan regime to take control of the nation’s oil.
“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” Trump said.
Between 80% and 90% of Iran’s oil passes through the Kharg Island terminal, in the Strait of Hormuz, which has remained largely closed to shipping since Operation Epic Fury began at the end of February.
Taking Kharg Island would not be a quick operation, Trump conceded, but would require the US to “be there for a while.”
Trump said he still believes a “deal could be made fairly quickly.”
The President also said he had spoken with the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who authorized ten Pakistani-flagged oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as a gesture of goodwill.
Another 20 vessels will be let through after that, Trump added.
🚨RED ALERT: Trump Has Been Set Up By The NeoCons!!!
