Brent crude held at USD 88.55 a barrel at 0128 GMT (6:28 a.m. PKT) Monday, while WTI slipped 14 cents to USD 82.26. Kpler tracked no Hormuz commodity-vessel crossings Sunday.
Both benchmarks gained more than 5% in the week ended August 14, Reuters reported. The advance followed attacks on vessels operated by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and on a refinery operated by Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco; Tadawul: 2222).
Kpler data published Monday recorded five commodity-vessel crossings on Saturday and none on Sunday, compared with 31 during the previous weekend. However, the tracking data may exclude ships operating with their identification transponders switched off.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Saturday that Tehran had not decided whether to resume negotiations with Washington. US President Donald Trump asked Americans to accept slightly higher gasoline prices while the conflict continued.
Priyanka Sachdeva, head of market insights at Phillip Nova in Singapore, said fading hopes of peace had restored the market’s geopolitical risk premium. She expected limited further gains without renewed attacks that would cause material damage to tankers or oil infrastructure.
Read: Oil Prices Gain Nearly 6% as US-Iran Talks Stall
The United Arab Emirates said Friday that a third ADNOC-operated vessel had been attacked in the strait. The UAE had blamed Iran for two other incidents on Thursday evening, according to the Emirates News Agency.
The Associated Press said Iran had not immediately responded to the UAE’s accusations over the Thursday attacks.
