But amid the hostilities, Gulf producers plan to wean themselves off their Hormuz dependence: File Image/Pixabay

While still well below its wartime peak of $120 per barrel, Brent on Monday incurred a massive price jump of 9.6 percent as U.S. president Donald Trump intensified his country’s bombing of Iran and said he would reimpose the U.S. blockade of Iranian shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent ended the session at $83.30 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate settled up $6.73, or 9.4 percent, at $78.14 per barrel.

Pundits still hoping that a peace deal between the two warring countries could eventually be reached were presumably dismayed by Trump late Monday stating that “We’re going to hit them very hard tonight and we're going to hit them very hard tomorrow and there's not a damned thing they can do about it."

This followed Trump's earlier vow that the U.S. would assume control over the Hormuz and impose a 20 percent fee for safe passage through the waterway.

Iranian foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi responded by declaring, “Iran has always been the guardian of the Strait and will remain so forever.”

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates on Monday reported that two national tankers were targeted by Iranian cruise missiles while transiting the Hormuz within Oman territorial waters; one crewmember was killed and eight others were injured.

UAE’s defense ministry declared this a breach of international law and said it would respond to Iran’s escalation of hostilities in the Middle East.

The fear that hostilities would spread across the region, thus jeopardising oil flows, was given further credence by the Iran-backed Houthi movement accusing Saudi Arabia of targeting Sanna airport in northern Yemen with airstrikes; a Houthi military spokesperson said the attacks would not go unanswered.

The worst kept secret amid the hostilities is that Middle East players are engaging in long-term strategizing to end their dependence on the Hormuz: Dubai was reportedly in talks in talks to build a new multipurpose port and container terminal in Fujairah on the UAE's east coast, creating another shipping route that avoids Hormuz altogether.

It was estimated that the project could take as little as 18 months to complete.