Oil prices jump more than 6% after Trump says U.S. will hit Iran hard

Oil rose sharply Wednesday after President Donald Trump said the U.S. will hit Iran hard in retaliation for an attempted surprise attack on American forces.

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, gained 6.6% to $89.61 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures advanced 6.4% to $84.31 per barrel.

"Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempted surprise attack on U.S. forces based in the Middle East," according to a post on X by the U.S. Central Command.

U.S. and Saudi forces also struck "multiple terrorist logistics and weapons sites" in eastern Iraq on Tuesday stateside, retaliating against more than 30 drone attacks in the past three days by "Iran-aligned terrorists," Centcom said.

Separately, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported "suspicious activity," in the Red Sea early in a post on X. Without giving more details, the agency said that the master of a tanker heard an explosion whilst transiting in the southern Red Sea. The advisory was issued on Tuesday, while the incident was reported on Monday.

Houthi attacks targeting Saudi oil facilities have also raised supply concerns. Houthi strikes on oil production, storage and port infrastructure could disrupt supply across the region, Bjorn Vang Jensen, executive industry advisor at Xeneta said on CNBC's "Access Middle East" on Tuesday.

"The spike in oil prices has been compounded by Chairman Kevin Warsh's somewhat hawkish tone at his first FOMC meeting as Fed chair, and traders remain split on the central bank's decision due Wednesday," according to Kitco.