Crude futures rose midday Tuesday as continued U.S. strikes against Iranian targets and Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz reinforced concerns over disruptions to the key oil-shipping route.
As of 11:35 a.m. ET, September Brent ICE crude was trading $1.42 higher at $84.72/bbl, with the October contract up 41cts at $83.12/bbl. The August West Texas Intermediate contract was trading $1.24 higher at $79.38/bbl, with September WTI up 87cts at $78.81/bbl.
Refined product futures were also trading higher. August ULSD rose 14.5cts to $3.9686/gal, with the September contract up 12.16cts at $3.8381/gal. The August RBOB contract edged 5.5cts higher to $3.2213/gal, with September up 5.12cts at $3.0331/gal.
Crude prices approached one-month highs after the U.S. carried out a third consecutive day of strikes against Iran.
Markets monitored shipping through the Strait of Hormuz after commercial vessel transits fell to 10 on Monday, according to Kpler's MarineTraffic data, the lowest level since before the U.S. and Iran reached a memorandum of understanding that had temporarily reopened the waterway and paused hostilities.
