Oil prices extended gains on Monday as fresh strikes between the US and Iran targeting vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz heightened concerns over prolonged disruptions to Middle East oil supplies.Brent crude futures rose 52 cents, or 0.54%, to $96.80 a barrel by 2354 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 66 cents, or 0.72%, to $92.14 a barrel.Brent surged 7.8% last week, while WTI gained nearly 10%, after the US and Iran resumed attacks that disrupted oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route through which about a fifth of the world’s oil supply has traditionally transited.US forces struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, including one off the coast of Kharg Island, near Iran’s key oil export hub, the US Central Command said.Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said it had targeted three oil tankers travelling through unauthorised routes in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as three additional US vessels in other areas.The attacks marked a “major escalation in the maritime conflict”, maritime intelligence firm Marisks said, according to Reuters.“Commercial tankers are now being deliberately used as instruments of reciprocal economic pressure, substantially weakening the previous distinction between military confrontation and commercial shipping,” it added.Oil and commodity shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has also declined sharply. An average of just 10 commodity ships crossed the strait each day over the past 10 days, the lowest level since May, according to data from analytics firm Kpler.Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Sunday that a restricted zone would be announced outside the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days, according to Iranian state media.The developments have raised concerns among traders that the disruption could persist, putting further pressure on global oil supplies and prices.OPEC+ on Sunday kept its oil output policy unchanged for October, the producer group said in a statement. The group needs to agree on new production quotas before deciding its next steps on output.The meeting of seven core OPEC+ members, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman came as the Iran war continued to disrupt oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, limiting the group’s ability to influence prices and market share.In August, OPEC+ agreed to increase production in September, completing a phased rollback of a 1.65 million barrels-per-day supply cut first introduced in 2023. Despite the planned increases, OPEC+ continues to produce well below its targets as the war disrupts oil exports.
