Oil Prices Increase as Shipments Decline, Brent Tops $98
Oil prices rose amid growing concerns about supply security in the Middle East, driven by escalating tensions between the US and Iran and slower oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
International benchmark Brent crude futures for November delivery were trading at $98.62 a barrel, up 1.61% from the previous close of $97. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for October delivery increased 2.77% to $94 a barrel from $91.48.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Iran would establish a “no-go zone” across and around the Persian Gulf in response to the US blockade of Iran, adding that Tehran’s “operational approach” toward US forces in the region had been fundamentally changed.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran and Oman were in the final stages of reaching an agreement on establishing a safe maritime route through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that Iran would target US oil and natural gas companies in the region if the US targeted Iranian oil tankers.
Markets are being supported by concerns that a prolonged conflict and the possibility of attacks on energy infrastructure and maritime transport in the region could lead to greater disruptions to oil supplies.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said some energy facilities in the southern part of the country had been targeted and fires broke out in some areas.
According to international media reports, the targeting of Saudi Aramco facilities in Jizan has also heightened concerns over oil supplies.
Following an attack in July on the Jizan Refinery, located on the Red Sea coast near the border with Yemen and with a crude processing capacity of approximately 400,000 barrels per day, oil shipments declined significantly, while no exports from the refinery were reported in August.
Analysts have also begun revising their oil price forecasts upward, citing expectations that the crisis in the Middle East could extend into 2027. Markets do not expect a full return to pre-war oil shipment levels before late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter of 2027.
