This past week, the oil market spiked as expected in response to Washington’s Saturday strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities. The Fordow facility—Tehran's state-of-the-art nuclear installation—was the primary target, hit by B-2 bombers that successfully dropped GBU-57A bunker-buster armaments. The other two facilities were targeted with Tomahawk missiles launched from U.S. submarines in the region.

The initial market reaction included a sharp rise in both oil futures and the U.S. Dollar Index at the opening bell. The natural-gas market followed suit due to fears of an imminent Iranian retaliation, which was initially expected in the morning but occurred later in the afternoon, when Iran launched missile attacks on U.S. military bases.