Oil jumps to highest price since 2022 after report Trump to be briefed on new Iran options
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Brent crude rose by almost 7% to more than $126 (£94) a barrel, the highest level since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Energy prices have risen this week as peace talks appeared to have stalled, with the key Strait of Hormuz waterway remaining effectively closed.
The Axios report cited anonymous sources, saying the proposed wave of strikes would be likely to include infrastructure targets.
Another plan focused on taking over part of the Strait of Hormuz so that it can be reopened for commercial shipping, Axios reported, adding that doing so could involve troops on the ground.
US-traded West Texas Intermediate crude oil also rose, up by 2.3% at around $109 a barrel.
The current Brent futures contract for June delivery is due to expire on Thursday. The more active July contract was up by about 2% at around $113 in morning trade in Asia.
Futures contracts are agreements to buy or sell an asset at a set date.
Oil traders have reacted quickly to the possibility of further military action in the Gulf, economics professor Yeow Hwee Chua from the Nanyang Technological University said.
Even a small chance of the conflict escalating could have "outsized implications" on global energy supplies, he added.
The US said it would blockade Iranian ports for as long as Tehran continues to threaten vessels that try to use the Strait of Hormuz, severely disrupting global energy shipments.
Iran retaliated against US-Israeli airstrikes by threatening to attack ships in the waterway, through which about a fifth of the world's energy usually passes.
Oil prices surged by 6% on Wednesday following reports that Washington is preparing for an "extended" blockade of Iran.
"People are really beginning to worry about the inflationary impact coming through the rise in the oil price", he added.
Phillips 66 has hired a number of former workers at the Lindsey Oil Refinery after buying the site.
The price of crude oil has swung sharply as uncertainty over the war in the Middle East continues.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth sparred with Democratic lawmakers during a nearly six-hour-long hearing, in his first time facing questions under oath since the start of the Iran war.
