On September 8, 2026, a large number of commercial ships belonging to Iran and other countries remain anchored in the Strait of Hormuz in Bandar Abbas, Iran.
Fatemeh Bahrami | Anadolu | Getty Images
Oil prices rose in early trading on Thursday, reversing earlier losses, as Brent crude prices rose further above the $100 per barrel threshold on concerns about escalating tensions in the Middle East and the impact on energy supplies.
International benchmark futures brent crude oil Prices for November delivery rose 0.95% to $102.17 a barrel as of 5:03 a.m. ET. us West Texas Intermediate Futures In October, the price rose 1.2% to $97.20 per barrel.
brent
Tensions rose in the Middle East after the US military destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday in retaliation for an attempted attack on a US warship. U.S. Central Command said the warship successfully evaded the Iranian attack and no U.S. personnel were harmed.
Daan Struiben, co-head of global commodity research at Goldman Sachs, said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” that the escalating conflict between the United States and Iran, now in its seventh month, raises the risk of oil prices surging above $120 a barrel as attacks on shipping intensify.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s top White House advisers have privately raised with him the prospect that the Iran conflict could drag on through the rest of his term, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Andrei Konstantin, commercial director and trading advisor at TFP Software FZCO, said further declines in shipping volumes, broader escalations and threats to energy infrastructure could further tighten the physical market and extend the rise in oil prices.
“WTI has fully reversed its decline from early June to July, but Brent prices are now well above where they were in early June,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.
