Brent tops $108 as Gulf-Iran talks on Hormuz are shelved and Saudi Arabia shuts its main pipeline

Brent crude climbed above $108 a barrel on Monday morning after a merchant vessel was struck in the Strait of Hormuz, killing one crew member¹. OilPrice reported Brent at $108 as Gulf states halted Hormuz talks and Houthi forces struck a Saudi airbase², and tied the same level to a Saudi pipeline shutdown deepening supply fears³. CBS News called the move a near four-month high⁶. Saudi Arabia shut its East-West pipeline after multiple drone attacks, intensifying the pressure on Gulf energy exports⁷.

Gulf states postponed a critical meeting with Iran on the future of the strait, owing to a lack of Arab consensus⁴. Iranian officials said the postponement dealt a blow to efforts to reopen the waterway⁵. Bahrain’s foreign ministry announced on Saturday that it would not attend the ministerial meeting with Iran in Salalah, Oman¹³.

Why it matters to investors

Iran says it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States meets its demands, while the pipeline attack threatens Saudi oil exports within days⁸. NBC News wrote that Saudi Arabia is running out of places to turn, with the strait its oil exports have traditionally used now largely constrained⁹.

Sources disagree on where the barrel sits. Euronews and OilPrice put Brent above $108^1,3, while Eastern Herald reported Brent holding near $104 and noted that OPEC and the International Energy Agency differ on demand by 2.9 million barrels¹³. Yahoo Finance framed the puzzle as why futures are beyond $100 when Washington says it is clearing Hormuz traffic¹⁰.

What to watch

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday that 10 million barrels of oil a day, on average over the past week, were passing through Hormuz¹⁰. On September 13 he told global oil markets to stop pricing in a diplomatic breakthrough with Iran¹¹. Oman’s energy minister, speaking around the OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting in Vienna, called the disruptions short term¹⁴.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the strait can be bypassed with pipelines in two years, but Reuters noted that the shutdown of Saudi Arabia’s main escape route cuts against that timetable¹². Whether the Salalah meeting is rescheduled, and whether the East-West line restarts, are the two switches with the shortest path to the price^4,7. Bahrain’s refusal to attend and the absence of Arab consensus suggest the diplomatic route is the slower of the two^4,13.