By John Liu, CNN

(CNN) — Oil prices surged past $100 per barrel again overnight, three days after it hit a four-year high, as the US and Israel’s war with Iran continues to have a historic impact on global fuel supplies.

The jump came despite 32 countries, including the US and other developed economies, agreeing earlier on Wednesday to a record release of oil into the global market.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, hovered around $100 a barrel overnight Thursday, an 8.7% increase for the day. Meanwhile, WTI, the US benchmark, also soared 8.7% to $94.8.

As the conflict in the Middle East drags on, the Strait of Hormuz – a critical oil shipping route carrying roughly one-fifth of global daily oil production – remains effectively shut with Iran attacking ships trying to transit.

In response, Saudi Arabia – the world’s largest oil exporter – has to redirect its maritime trade to its western Red Sea ports to avoid the Strait. Many other Gulf nations have also seen their energy infrastructure attacked and have reduced their output.

Oil prices have witnessed huge volatility since the US and Israel struck Iran more than a week ago, spiking to nearly $120 per barrel for Brent crude on Sunday before cooling down in subsequent days.

On Wednesday, member countries of the International Energy Agency unanimously agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil – the largest release of emergency oil stocks in history.

The record amount far surpasses the 182 million barrels of oil that countries put onto the market in two tranches in 2022 when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

But the return of oil prices above $100 suggests that the release does not appear to be sufficient in calming investors’ jitters over a continued energy disruption caused by the near-shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz.

Whether the price will remain above the $100 mark in the hours to come remains to be seen.

Oil majors typically hedge in the futures market during the day. Oil trades at night could fluctuate more because of thinner trading volumes and speculators playing their positions, resulting in turbulence like the surge to around $120 on Sunday night, which moderated during the US trading hours afterward.

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CNN’s Hanna Ziady and Nic Robertson contributed to this report.

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By Jessie Yeung, CNN

(CNN) — The US and Israel’s war with Iran is spreading to the seas, with oil tankers hit by Iranian attacks, an Omani port set ablaze, and three vessels hit by projectiles near the Strait of Hormuz – a critical waterway normally used to transport much of the world’s oil.

Meanwhile, a global body of countries has agreed to release emergency oil reserves to help absorb the shock of the oil disruption, as the growing Middle East conflict nears the end of a second week and deepens fears about the impact to the global economy.

And, US President Donald Trump continues to give conflicting comments about when the war might end.

Here’s what to know on Day 13.

What’s happening in the region?

• Strikes target oil: Two foreign oil tankers in Iraqi waters were set ablaze by an Iranian attack, killing at least one person, with 38 other crew members rescued. Separately, emergency crews in Oman are battling a fire at fuel storage tanks, after a social media video geolocated by CNN appeared to show an Iranian drone hitting a tank at the port. And, Bahrain said that Iranian attacks targeted fuel tanks in the country’s north early Thursday local time.
• Attacks near strait: Three vessels were hit by projectiles near the Strait of Hormuz, according to the UK’s maritime agency. The waterway carries roughly one-fifth of global crude oil shipments. Representatives of G7 nations met on Wednesday to discuss possibly escorting ships “when security conditions allow.”
• Iran, Hezbollah and Israel: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it carried out a joint attack with the militant group Hezbollah on Israel, striking more than 50 targets across five hours of sustained fire on Wednesday. Israel later carried out a “wide-scale” wave of strikes targeting Hezbollah infrastructure across Lebanon, including in the capital Beirut, its military said.
• Gulf nations: Iran’s neighboring Gulf states intercepted new waves of Iranian drones and missiles early Thursday morning, including in the global business hub of Dubai, where a drone fell on a building near the luxury neighborhood of Creek Harbour.

What are the other main headlines?

• Emergency oil reserves: Member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed Wednesday to release 400 million barrels of oil into the global market – the largest release of emergency oil stocks in history. Soon after, US President Trump authorized the US to release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve beginning next week.
• Trump’s speech: Speaking in Kentucky on Wednesday, Trump claimed that “we won” in Iran, without providing evidence. It also contradicts his earlier comment that “we’re not finished yet” with the war. Later that night, he told reporters: “It’s just a question of when, when do we stop?”
• Scrutiny back home: The Pentagon told US lawmakers in a private briefing Tuesday that preliminary estimates suggest the war cost at least $11 billion in the first six days. And in a rare show of GOP criticism, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski slammed Trump’s handling of the war, demanding public hearing

By Tami Luhby, CNN

(CNN) — Forgoing food. Cutting back on utilities. Driving less. Borrowing money.

These are the sacrifices that tens of millions of people are making to afford their health care expenses, according to a West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America survey released Thursday.

Roughly one-third of respondents – equivalent to more than 82 million Americans – said they have had to cut back on at least one daily living expense to cover their health care bills, according to the survey of nearly 20,000 adults, which was conducted from June through August.

The report is among the latest examples of the affordability crisis plaguing Americans who are struggling to afford the cost of living amid stubbornly high prices for food, housing, utilities and other necessities. And it comes at a time when health care spending is on the rise, in part because the country’s health is on the decline, said Tim Lash, president of West Health, a nonprofit group focused on health care delivery and affordability.

“It’s not just that health care is expensive,” Lash said. “It’s that we use more and more health care as Americans.”

Sheila Nesbit, who recently retired after a long career as a librarian, is among those having to make tough choices. She didn’t realize that Medicare would cover less than her job-based insurance plan did. So when her doctor recommended new orthopedic shoe inserts costing roughly $250 to help with pain while walking, she decided not to buy them, and she’s also looking for discount cards to help her purchase a $90 medicine that Medicare doesn’t cover.

What’s more, she sometimes skips lunch and doesn’t always take her medicines for cholesterol, asthma and high blood pressure so she can save money. And she’s lowered the thermostat at home, opting to put on a sweater and huddle under two blankets to ward off the cold.

“I never thought I’d be living like this,” said Nesbit, 65, who lives in the Chicago suburb of Park Forest.

Although the uninsured and those lower on the income ladder have to make more tradeoffs, they aren’t the only ones having trouble affording their health care expenses.

“Even middle-class and upper-middle-class Americans are still having to make decisions like cutting back on utilities, driving less, borrowing money to pay for health care,” Ellyn Maese, research director for the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare, told CNN.

Health care costs have also prompted tens of millions of Americans to postpone major life events in recent years, according to a separate West Health-Gallup Center survey conducted between October and December. Just over a quarter of respondents said they delayed surgical or medical treatment, while 14% held off buying a new home, and just under a tenth put off retirement.

The situation will probably get worse in the coming months and years; millions more people are expected to become uninsured after Republican lawmakers last year approved more than $1 trillion in cuts to federal support for health care and after Congress allowed the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium subsidies to expire at the end of last year.

“If people are losing their insurance,” Maese said, “we’ll see more people facing even more of these tradeoffs.”

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