·
Brent
crude
rose to around US$84/barrel,
about 16% above
its pre-war level.
·
WTI
crude
increased slightly to nearly US$79/barrel
as uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz persisted.
·
Diplomatic
Stalemate:
Hopes of a quick US-Iran agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz have weakened,
with Iran demanding several conditions before allowing unrestricted shipping.
·
Critical
Oil Route:
The Strait of Hormuz normally carries up
to one-fifth of global oil supplies, making continued disruption
a major concern for energy markets.
·
Shipping
Disruption:
Only about 12 vessels per day
are currently passing through Hormuz, compared with approximately 130 vessels per day before the war.
·
Red
Sea Risk:
Traffic through the Bab al-Mandab
Strait remains relatively stable at nearly 40 ships per day, but concerns
remain over threats by Iran-backed Houthi forces.
·
Tanker
Attack:
The UAE reported an Iranian attack on a tanker owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).
ADNOC said at least 15 of its
vessels had been attacked since the conflict began.
·
Global
Stocks:
US futures indicated limited movement, while European stocks were broadly flat.
Asian markets performed better, with Japan's
Nikkei 225 rising more than 2%.
·
US
Gasoline Prices:
Average gasoline prices edged down to around US$4.01/gallon, but remained 35% higher than at the beginning
of the war.
·
Diesel
Prices:
Average diesel prices declined slightly to about US$5.30/gallon, still 41% above pre-war levels.
·
Key
Impact:
Prolonged disruption in Hormuz could keep global crude prices and transportation costs elevated,
increasing inflationary pressure on oil-importing economies.
[ABS News Service/10.08.2026]
Oil prices rose on Monday as hopes dimmed for a breakthrough
in the standoff between the United States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran and Oman recently indicated that they were near
an agreement that would allow oil and other important commercial traffic to resume
through the crucial waterway. But Iran has issued a long list of demands that it
said would have to be met by the United States before ships could move freely again,
and it was clear that Tehran wanted to continue to use the strait as leverage.
Mr. Trump told Axios on Sunday that he believes that Iran will eventually
come around because of economic distress and inflation.
·
The price of
Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, crept up to about $84 a barrel. The price
of Brent is 16 percent higher than it was just before the start of the war.
·
West Texas
Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, was up slightly to close to $79 a barrel.
·
Investors and
analysts are focused on the continued disruption to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,
the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that normally carries as much as one-fifth
of the world’s oil supply. The market is also watching efforts by the Iranian-backed
Houthi militia in Yemen to restrict traffic in the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern
end of the Red Sea, which Saudi Arabia has used as an alternative to the Strait
of Hormuz.
·
A modest number
of vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, continuing to run
at a fraction of the prewar pace. About a dozen ships per day have navigated the
strait recently, according to Kpler, a maritime data company. Before the war, an
average of 130 ships used the route daily.
·
Traffic through
the Bab al-Mandab Strait has been stable, with an average of just under 40 ships
per day between Friday and Sunday, per Kpler. There has
not been a significant drop in traffic since the Houthis threatened to block Saudi
ships in the region, although activity in that part of the Red Sea downshifted to
its current pace in 2023, when the Houthis launched attacks on shipping in response
to Israel’s war in Gaza.
·
On Saturday,
the Emirati foreign ministry said an Iranian attack had targeted a tanker belonging
to the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company as it crossed the Strait of Hormuz.
The company had said that at least 15 of its vessels were attacked in the waterway
since the conflict began, leading to one death and 20 injuries among crew members.
·
Futures on
the S&P 500 pointed to little change
when stocks resume trading in the United States on Monday. The benchmark
stock market index closed at a fresh record high on Friday.
·
In Europe,
the Stoxx 600, a broad index that tracks the region’s largest companies, was flat.
·
Stocks in Asia,
where countries import vast quantities of oil and gas, were mostly up. Japan’s Nikkei
225 rose more than 2 percent, while South Korea’s KOSPI and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
were both up around 1 percent.
·
Gas prices
fell slightly on Monday to a national average of about $4.01 a gallon, according
to the AAA motor club. While prices have dropped by about 10 cents per gallon in
the past week, drivers, on average, are still paying 35 percent more for gas than
when the war began.
·
Gas prices
don’t move in lock step with crude, usually trailing increases or drops by a few
days.
·
The average
price of diesel also fell slightly, to $5.30 per gallon, on Monday, but costs are
still up 41 percent since the start of the war.