Oil prices on Monday climbed to a nine month high, close to $105 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after Iran’s oil ministry said late on Sunday that it had halted crude exports to both France and Britain.
The move comes in retaliation to the EU’s imposed sanctions on Iran’s fuel exports, which include an oil embargo set to start in July and a freeze on the nations’ central bank assets.
Iran’s oil minister, Rostam Qassemi, had warned at the start of the month that Iran would cut of crude exports to “hostile” European nations.
Prices were also up in London where crude climbed to $121.01 per barrel.
