Oil prices continued to rise on Monday amid growing concerns over a prolonged disruption to Middle East supplies following reciprocal US and Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and elsewhere.
Brent crude futures rose 52 cents, or 0.54%, to $96.80 a barrel by 23:54 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 66 cents, or 0.72%, to $92.14 a barrel.
Brent climbed 7.8% last week, while WTI gained nearly 10% after the United States and Iran resumed attacks, reducing oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, which carried one-fifth of global oil supplies before the war.
US Central Command said its forces targeted three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, including a tanker off Kharg Island, near Iran’s main oil export hub.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said Saturday that it had targeted three oil tankers traveling on unauthorized routes through the Strait of Hormuz, in addition to three US vessels in different locations.
Maritime intelligence firm Marisks said Saturday’s attacks represented a “major escalation in the maritime conflict.”
“Commercial tankers are now deliberately being used as tools of mutual economic pressure, significantly weakening the previous distinction between military confrontation and commercial shipping,” the company added.
Data released Monday by Kpler showed that the daily average of commodity-carrying vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz stood at 10 over the past 10 days, the lowest level since May.
The OPEC+ alliance said it had decided to maintain its oil production policy unchanged for October at a meeting held Sunday, as the group must agree on new quotas before determining its next steps on output.
Source: Reuters
