Brent Tops $109 as Attacks on Oil Tankers in Hormuz Escalate

Brent crude jumped 0.78% to $109.64 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate rose by the same margin to $98.58, driven by mounting concerns over disruptions to oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy reported a fire aboard a supertanker after it struck a sea mine south of the Strait of Hormuz. Data from vessel-tracking firm Kpler showed that at least 18 ships had come under attack over two weeks. Analysts at LSEG warned that the attacks had extended into the Gulf of Oman and were now threatening ship-to-ship oil transfer operations outside the Gulf.

Yemen's Houthis announced they had targeted an Aramco facility in Yanbu, the Shaybah oil field, and Riyadh and Abha airports. In a separate development, the death toll from a Houthi attack on Yemeni government forces rose to 73.

Oil had retreated 0.69% in Tuesday's session to $108.79 per barrel, although it had touched $111.99 during that same session — a five-month high — following the Iranian president's meeting with Pakistani military chiefs to discuss a possible mediation.

On the inventories front, eight analysts polled in a Reuters survey forecast that U.S. commercial crude stockpiles would fall by around 800,000 barrels in the week ending October 16. U.S. Energy Department officials said they were working with global refiners to boost fuel production in response to a diesel shortage.