New U.S., Iran strikes driving up oil prices

A month of relative calm broken between the US and Iran. The US military hit five Iranian oil tankers yesterday. This one, the MT RIESCO, burning then sinking in the Gulf of Oman. The threat of more strikes are looming, says Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Iran continues to try to hit US Naval ships. And for every time they do that or try to do that, they're going to lose tankers.

In response this morning, Iranian ballistic missiles lit up the sky over Jordan. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted a US airbase and claimed heavy damage. But Jordan said it downed 18 of 20 missiles, with two others falling in unpopulated areas, and all American service members were accounted for. [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

Iran also publicized its capture of this American unmanned submarine, used for surveillance and mine detection, at the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. The US military later said one of its underwater drones had malfunctioned, without confirming whether Iran had seized the same drone. And, in an escalation, Iranian-backed Houthis launched a series of attacks on at least four cities in neighboring Saudi Arabia that injured at least 73 people. Work at some energy sites had to be suspended. Saudi Arabia is the world's top exporter of oil. Ramy Inocencio reporting there live. To Director of Commodity Research at Keppler, Matt Smith. Matt, a lot of Americans say that this war is wearing thin on their wallets, especially people who got up and gassed up today. Do you see, as you watch what's going on there in the Strait of Hormuz and all of Ramy's reporting, the possibility of even higher gas and oil prices in the month ahead? Absolutely. And so, in terms of oil right now, we're just pushing above $100 today on the Brent contract-- that is the global benchmark there. But what is happening is you've been seeing the product prices, gasoline and particularly diesel, have been outpacing the increase we've seen on oil. And so a barrel of diesel is about $200 right now. And so that's what the challenge is here. In terms of prices at the pump, we're about $4.20 on the national average. That's the highest level for this time of year. For diesel, the retail price is an absolute record-- we're going to be pushing above $6 a gallon here. And so this is hugely problematic. And as that price of oil continues to rise, that's only going to be dragging these product prices higher as well.

So what's the off ramp as you watch the movement of the ships out of the Strait of Hormuz? We're into the seventh month of this conflict, and we're still seeing these flows being constrained. And so that oil isn't getting out, or enough of it isn't getting out. And it's not getting to the refineries globally that, then, refine it into the products that we consume, such as gasoline and diesel. And so from that perspective, this is hugely problematic. And so for this to be resolved, we need to get the Strait fully reopened here. But, as you were just showing, you've got tankers that are trying to get out. Iran has been targeting them, has been targeting the US Navy. In retaliation, you've got the US, then, hitting Iranian tankers. And so the situation is just not getting resolved. You've got the issues in the Red Sea as well with the Houthis there. And so the situation is deteriorating rather than improving. And here we are, as I say, 7, 7 and 1/2 months into this, no end in sight. We appreciate the opportunity to talk to you on CBS News 24/7. Thank you so very much.