Oil prices have turned lower early Wednesday after challenging multimonth highs overnight. Reports that Iranian intelligence has reached out indirectly to the CIA for talks have helped to ease concerns about lasting supply disruptions.

The price of crude oil rose to $80 a barrel and the price of natural gas jumped 30% after Iran effectively sealed off the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Oil prices rose to their highest in more than a year as traders continued to fret that supplies will be affected by conflict in the Middle East.

Oil prices settled unchanged on Wednesday at the end of a volatile trading session, as escalating U.S. and ​Israeli strikes against Iran widened regional tensions and paralysed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz for a fifth day,

The UK gas price surged to its highest level for three years on Tuesday, following sharp gains on Monday. Brent crude oil briefly rose above $85 a barrel. Meanwhile, the share prices of companies on US and European stock markets plunged.

Oil prices leaped on worries that war with Iran could clog the flow of crude, while U.S. stocks swung from sharp losses to tiny gains

Global oil prices are in the high $70s as traffic through Strait of Hormuz comes to a halt. Some analysts have warned they could top $100 a barrel if the stoppage is prolonged.

The war in the Mideast is sending shudders through global energy markets. Oil prices are up more than 6%, and European natural gas futures are spiking more than 40% in the wake of the shutdown of a major supplier of ship-borne gas due to the fighting.