Brent crude stayed above $100 a barrel on Thursday after Iran said it had attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz and the United States sank five Iranian oil tankers.
Brent futures edged up 0.1% to $101.34 by 0107 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate gained 0.5% to $96.55. The day before, Brent had settled at $101.21, up $3.29 or 3.4%, after touching $101.58, while WTI rose $3.02, or 3.25%, to $96.05. Neither benchmark had finished higher since May 22.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps added a warning that it would step up its response to any further attacks.
A price level traders had stopped expecting
Oil had mostly stayed under $100 since late May, as traders bet the conflict would remain contained. Prices also softened after the US and Iran reached a temporary agreement in June to halt attacks, though no permanent peace deal followed.
The war began on February 28. Since then Brent has hit as much as $126.41 a barrel, a peak reached on April 30. It briefly crossed $100 again in late July before slipping back.
Before the war, nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply moved through the strait. Oil and gas flows there remain well under that level. The International Energy Agency has forecast that global oil supply will fall by 4.3 million barrels per day this year, about 4%.
The physical market shows the strain. Dated Brent, a benchmark used to price around two-thirds of global oil supplies, has stayed above $100 a barrel since September 3, according to LSEG data.
At the pump and on the markets
US gasoline is averaging about $4.22 a gallon. Diesel is at record levels, approaching $6 a gallon. Dearer crude could push up the cost of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel again, which feeds into transport costs and the price of goods that travel by road, air or sea.
Asian stocks fell on Thursday with oil holding above $100. Investors were also waiting on US inflation data that could influence the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.
