Oil prices rose on Thursday, with Brent crude remaining above $100 a barrel as markets assessed the potential for further supply disruptions following attacks on shipping involving Iran and the United States.
Brent crude futures gained 40 cents, or 0.4%, to $101.61 a barrel by 08:14 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 49 cents, or 0.51%, to $96.54 a barrel.
Brent has risen nearly 30% from its early-August lows. A permanent agreement between the U.S. and Iran to halt attacks was not reached, and fighting resumed later in August.
“The recent run-up in prices lays bare the market’s approach: this conflict will last longer than anticipated even a month ago, let alone at the beginning of the summer. If oil supply and exports are diminished, the oil balance remains tight and prices remain elevated,” PVM analyst John Evans said.
Shipping Attacks Keep Hormuz Flows in Focus
U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. could strike Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain and urged Tehran to exercise caution. He also said the conflict would probably continue beyond the U.S. midterm elections in November.
Iran said it attacked 10 vessels near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after the U.S. sank five Iranian oil tankers.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it would increase its response to any additional attacks.
Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz remain substantially below levels recorded before the conflict. Before the war, the waterway carried approximately one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies, according to the supplied information.
Separately, Iran-aligned Houthi militants have increased attacks against Saudi Arabia, adding to uncertainty surrounding shipping in the Red Sea.
China Buying Monitored by Oil Market
Dated Brent, the physical oil benchmark used to price approximately two-thirds of global supply, has traded above $100 since September 3, according to LSEG data cited in the supplied information.
China, the world’s largest crude oil importer, has increased purchases in recent weeks following several months of lower demand, ING analysts said.
ING said continued growth in Chinese purchases could increase the market impact of supply disruptions, while a reduction in imports could limit upward pressure on prices.
“For months the bearish case rested on soft Chinese demand as a reliable dampener. That dampener was never structural. It was a drawdown, a buffer being spent, and buffers empty,” said David Jorbenaze, global oil market lead at commodities information provider ICIS.
Future oil-price movements remain dependent on factors including supply disruptions and changes in demand, and the analyst assessments cited represent their respective views rather than established outcomes.