Brent crude climbed above $110 a barrel during the session as attacks on tankers deepened concerns over oil shipments from the Persian Gulf, OilPrice.com reported. West Texas Intermediate also briefly exceeded $100, with traders growing less confident that normal export flows from the region would resume.
Both benchmarks subsequently traded below those thresholds. At the time of the report, Brent stood at $109.68 a barrel and WTI at $98.55. OilPrice.com described Brent as trading at its highest level in five months, with the rally reflecting mounting uncertainty over supplies moving through the Strait of Hormuz.
The outlet cited shipping analytics firm Kpler as reporting a sharp reversal in the region’s export recovery. Earlier in the month, Kpler had said oil exports were back at pre-war levels. Its latest assessment, however, indicated that Iranian strikes against tankers in the strait had again severely reduced shipments, undermining that earlier improvement in supply flows.
According to Reuters reports cited by OilPrice.com, Kpler data showed at least 18 tanker attacks over the preceding two weeks. Average daily oil flows out of the Persian Gulf had fallen to 8.5 million barrels, compared with more than 20 million barrels a day two weeks earlier. The figures pointed to a substantial contraction in exports over a short period.
ING commodity analysts Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey said in a note cited by the outlet that Middle Eastern tensions were supporting prices even with relatively strong Persian Gulf flows. They interpreted this as evidence of a sizeable risk premium reflecting the volatility of the situation. Sustained, robust shipments could gradually erode that war-related premium, they said, but they saw no indication of that happening yet.
OilPrice.com also reported renewed Houthi strikes against Saudi Arabia, targeting energy infrastructure, airports and military sites. It described the escalation in fighting between the Yemeni Houthis and Saudi Arabia as another source of support for crude prices and a significant contributor to the market’s heightened volatility.