Oil Climbs as Iranian Tanker Attacks Cloud Gulf Supply Rebound
WTI nears $95 and Brent closes below $106 as the US helps move 19 million barrels through the Strait of Hormuz.
Middle East attacks are making crude flows less certain, lifting oil prices even as tanker firms work around the risk.
What happened
West Texas Intermediate, the US crude benchmark, advanced toward $95 a barrel. Brent, the global benchmark, declined to close below $106. Oil rose because a flare-up in attacks across the Middle East made energy flows from the Persian Gulf less certain.
The US said it assisted in shipping more than 19 million barrels of crude through the Strait of Hormuz. Even so, an escalation of Iranian attacks on tankers in the waterway threatens the recent rebound in Gulf supply to near prewar levels.
Why traders are watching
Saudi Arabia intercepted more missiles and drones launched by Yemen’s Houthis. The headquarters of oil giant Saudi Aramco in the east of the kingdom was hit in the latest attacks. Fighting with the Iran-backed group shows few signs of subsiding.
Brent has surged more than 70% in 2026 as the US-Iran war roils energy markets. Tanker strikes in Hormuz have also prompted more supertankers to turn away from the Persian Gulf. Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James, said the big picture in the Persian Gulf has changed little over the past three months, and tanker companies are getting better at moving crude between vessels at sea to keep exports flowing while reducing their exposure to Iranian attacks.
The takeaway: More attacks mean more uncertainty over Gulf crude flows, and that is keeping oil prices elevated.
Summary written by Oh Cannot from the original report by Straits Times. Not financial advice.
