Brent crude climbed back above $100 a barrel as reports of more frequent Iranian attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz renewed concerns over oil shipments, OilPrice.com reported. The rise also came as field operators in the US Gulf of Mexico began shutting in production ahead of a potential hurricane, adding a separate supply risk to the market.
At the time of the report, Brent was trading at $102.50 a barrel, more than 2% above Wednesday’s close. West Texas Intermediate stood at $89.96 a barrel, a gain of 1.90% from Wednesday. The advance followed a decline earlier in the week after an update from the International Energy Agency on plans to release crude and fuels from inventories.
The IEA said it would soon determine how to begin releasing the 100 million barrels agreed by the G7 the previous week. However, OilPrice.com noted that some observers viewed those volumes as part of the roughly 400 million-barrel stock release announced in March, rather than an additional commitment. That earlier plan was intended to soften the war’s impact on fuel prices, and the outlet assessed that the release was largely reflected in market prices already.
Attention consequently shifted back to shipping risks in Hormuz. OilPrice.com cited Reuters reporting on figures from a US Navy-led information outlet showing 12 attacks between 28 September and 2 October. Tanker movements through the strait had fallen sharply again, with Tuesday’s flows at their lowest level since late July, according to Kpler data cited in the report.
Despite the danger, producers appeared increasingly prepared to keep shipping, according to ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes, whose comments were carried by Reuters and cited by OilPrice.com. Hynes said such attacks had previously reduced Persian Gulf shipments, but producers now appeared willing to risk vessel damage because they lacked an alternative route for getting their oil to international markets.