SINGAPORE: Oil prices rose Monday, with Brent at USD 96.80 and WTI at USD 92.14 as of 4:54 a.m. PKT, as US-Iran tanker attacks deepened fears of prolonged Middle East supply disruption.
Brent crude futures gained USD 0.52, or 0.54%, while US West Texas Intermediate rose USD 0.66, or 0.72%, Reuters reported. Brent climbed 7.8% last week, while WTI gained nearly 10% as oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz declined.
The latest escalation followed US strikes on three Iranian crude carriers on September 5. U.S. Central Command said it disabled M/T Downy near Kharg Island and M/T Stark 1 near Jask, while destroying the unladen M/T Kylo in the Gulf of Oman after alleged Iranian attacks on two US warships.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps separately said it had targeted three tankers using what it called unauthorised routes through the strait and three additional US vessels elsewhere, according to Reuters.
Shipping activity has fallen sharply. Kpler data cited by Reuters showed an average of 10 commodity vessels a day crossed the Strait of Hormuz over the latest 10-day period, the lowest level since May. Only two vessels transited on Saturday and six on Sunday.
Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said Tehran would announce a restricted zone outside the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days.
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Seven OPEC+ countries meeting on September 6 kept their required production levels for October unchanged, according to OPEC. Their next meeting is scheduled for October 4.
ANZ Research said it expected Middle East exports to remain constrained through the rest of 2026, with a gradual reopening beginning late in the fourth quarter.
