I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.Brent crude oil prices held above US$100 per barrel amid escalating tensions between Iran and the US, with both sides launching significant attacks on shipping. This tit-for-tat conflict has disrupted flows through the Strait of Hormuz, keeping physical markets tight and supporting a geopolitical risk premium. Consequently, the US Energy Information Administration raised its global oil price forecasts for this year and next as Middle Eastern supply losses reduce stockpiles.
[NEW DELHI] Oil prices held firm on Thursday (Sep 10) after Brent crude breached US$100 a barrel, with traders bracing for deeper supply disruptions as Iran and the United States launched their largest attacks on shipping since their six-month-old conflict began.
Brent crude futures inched lower by 0.1 per cent to US$101.10 a barrel by 0256 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude was at US$96.24 a barrel, up 0.2 per cent.
Brent prices have surged nearly 30 per cent from lows touched in early August as a permanent agreement between the US and Iran to cease attacks never materialised, while renewed fighting began later in the month.
Iran said on Wednesday it had attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz after the US sank five Iranian oil tankers, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it would escalate its response to any further attacks.
“The tit-for-tat attacks suggest oil flows from the Persian Gulf are likely to remain disrupted for the foreseeable future,” ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes said in a client note.
Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway that before the war carried roughly a fifth of global oil and gas supplies, remain far below pre-war levels.
Pressure is mounting on alternative channels for Gulf oil exports, with Iran-aligned Houthi militants stepping up strikes against Saudi Arabia, threatening crude shipments via the Red Sea.
Uncertainty around actual volumes coming from the Strait of Hormuz and continued shipping disruptions are keeping physical markets tight and supporting a geopolitical risk premium in oil prices, OCBC analyst Christopher Wong said in a note.
In the physical crude oil market, the dated Brent oil benchmark, against which roughly two-thirds of supply is priced, has been above US$100 per barrel since Sep 3, according to LSEG data.
The US Energy Information Administration on Wednesday raised its oil price forecasts for this year and next, as global stockpiles drop due to the loss of Middle Eastern supply. REUTERS