Brent ticks higher amid uncertainty over Hormuz tanker traffic

Oil prices are rising moderately on August 10 amid continued uncertainty over the prospects of a resumption of unrestricted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran said it has reached the final stage of coordinating with Oman on a system for managing shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, but is demanding that the United States meet a number of conditions for the blockade of the strait to be lifted.

As of 9:20 a.m. Baku time, October Brent crude futures on London’s ICE Futures exchange were trading at $84.04 per barrel, up $0.49, or 0.59%, from the previous session’s close. On August 7, the contracts rose by $1.06, or 1.3%, to $83.55 per barrel.

September WTI crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) had risen by $0.35, or 0.45%, to $78.53 per barrel by the same time. At the end of the previous session, their price increased by $0.89, or 1.15%, to $78.18 per barrel.

The oil market posted a notable decline last week amid hopes that Iran and Oman would reach an agreement. However, on August 8, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that lifting the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz was not related to those talks but to US actions. In particular, Tehran is demanding compensation from Washington for numerous strikes on Iranian territory.

Araghchi also noted that Iranian negotiators currently have no direct contact with the United States and are only exchanging messages through intermediaries.

Meanwhile, Iran-backed Houthi rebels announced on August 9 that they had carried out a strike on a Saudi Aramco oil refinery in Jizan. Two days earlier, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Türkiye signed a defence cooperation agreement providing for a collective response in the event of an attack on any of the pact’s member states.

By Jeyhun Aghazada