Brent crude, the international standard for oil, was trading at a seven-week high of $99 per barrel Tuesday morning, continuing an upward trend seen since the end of August. The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Monday that Tehran is planning to announce a maritime “exclusion zone” outside the Strait of Hormuz where it intends to stop vessels attempting to transit the waterway without Iranian permission. Iran threatened Sunday to deliver a “more intense and more painful” retaliation after the U.S. struck three Iranian oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.

Full report : Oil nears $100 a barrel as Strait of Hormuz stalemate keeps ship traffic down.