The price of oil rarely makes it into dinner-table conversations. But over the last two weeks it has dominated headlines, with huge and unusual rises and falls starting to feel like the new norm.

It is currently trading over a third higher than before the conflict began, pushed up by air strikes on shipping and energy infrastructure and the effective closure of the key Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that carries a fifth of global oil supplies.

There were wild swings in the price on Monday, which was described by the BBC's economics editor Faisal Islam as the most volatile day of oil trading in history.

Most of the talk around prices concerns the cost of Brent crude - a widely-used international benchmark for oil.

Contracts to buy and sell oil will often use Brent as a reference point, so it has significant influence on global energy costs.

The vast majority of oil is traded for delivery at a future date, says Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter, and prices are rising now due to concerns about supplies in the months ahead.

The price started at around $71 at market opening on Monday 23 February.

It jumped to $78 by early trading on 2 March, after the conflict began, and then peaked at around $117 in the early hours of 9 March. It fell to around $84 by early evening on 10 March, and then rose again. At around 09:00 on 12 March, it stood at $98. The source is Bloomberg.

Trump calls war 'very complete'

Before the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, oil had been trading at about $71 a barrel, but prices rose sharply as soon as the conflict began.

Comments from world leaders have contributed significantly to price fluctuations.

Last week, the FT carried an ominous warning from Qatar's energy minister, Saad al-Kaabi, who said he expected all oil and gas exporters in the Gulf to stop production within days and this pushed oil prices to a two-year high.

When markets reopened after the weekend, they peaked at almost $120 a barrel.

But then came reports there could be a huge release of emergency stockpiles co-ordinated by the International Energy Agency.

US President Donald Trump also described the war as "very complete, pretty much", raising hopes the conflict would not be drawn-out.

In response, the oil price went into freefall and by the end of Monday it had fallen by nearly $30 from the peak seen earlier in the day.

Quilter says the dramatic change - in the space of a few hours - was "extraordinary even by the volatile standards of commodities".

The world is now experiencing an "energy shock without modern precedent", adds James.

Behind the big numbers is a huge amount of practical detail, says former BP boss Lord John Browne, such as getting the right type of oil to the right refinery.

"This is not just a speculative activity - it's actually a matter of physical supply of oil, and people are bidding to make sure that they don't run out," he told the BBC.

US deletes post about successful tanker escort

Another key moment came when US Energy Secretary Chris Wright posted on X that the US had successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz.

At one point on Tuesday, the benchmark price plunged to $82 per barrel.

However, it soon jumped back to $86 after the post disappeared from his profile.

The White House later confirmed the social media post was wrong - the US Navy had not escorted any tankers through the crucial Gulf passage.