U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said ​on Thursday global oil prices are unlikely to hit $200 a ‌barrel even as crude tankers remained stalled in the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran widened.

“I would say unlikely, but we ​are focused on the military operation and solving a problem,” Wright ​told CNN when asked if prices would reach $200 a ⁠barrel – a level prices could hit if the war continues to escalate, an ​Iranian official said on Wednesday.

“Get ready for the oil barrel to be ​at $200 because the oil price depends on the regional security which you have destabilized,” Ebrahim Zolfaqari, the spokesperson for Tehran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters, said on ​Wednesday.

Oil prices jumped 6% to nearly $100 on Thursday as two ​tankers blazed in an Iraqi port after a hit by suspected Iranian explosive-laden boats.

The ‌rise ⁠came despite more than 30 countries in the International Energy Agency announcing a day earlier the biggest-ever coordinated drawdown of global oil reserves of 400 million barrels, about

40% of which will come from the U.S., the ​world’s largest oil ​producer.

The war ⁠has forced Middle East Gulf countries to cut total oil production by at least 10 million barrels ​per day, about 10% of world demand. The IEA ​said on ⁠Thursday that is the biggest oil supply disruption in the history of the global market.

Wright also told CNBC on Thursday that the U.S. Navy cannot ⁠escort ships ​through the Strait of Hormuz now but ​it was “quite likely” that could happen by the end of the month.

REUTERS