Brent Crude Tops $100 as Iran-US Tanker Attacks Threaten Hormuz Oil Flows
Brent crude stayed above $100 a barrel as Iran and the US exchanged their biggest attacks on shipping, deepening fears of prolonged supply disruption.
Oil prices held steady on Thursday after Brent crude crossed the $100-a-barrel mark, as traders weighed the prospect of a longer disruption to supplies following the largest exchange of attacks on shipping between Iran and the United States since their six-month-old conflict began.
Brent crude futures edged up 0.1% to $101.34 a barrel by 0107 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude stood at $96.55 a barrel, up 0.5%.
The latest escalation came after Iran said on Wednesday it had struck 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz, a response to the U.S. sinking five Iranian oil tankers. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps warned it would intensify its response to any further attacks.
The tit-for-tat strikes, according to ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes, suggest that oil flows from the Persian Gulf are likely to remain disrupted for the foreseeable future. The Strait of Hormuz, which before the war carried roughly a fifth of global oil and gas supplies, is still seeing volumes well below its pre-war level.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration raised its oil price forecasts for both this year and next, citing falling global stockpiles caused by the loss of Middle Eastern supply.
Hynes added that the broadening conflict risks even deeper disruption to supplies that the oil market had already been struggling to adjust to.