US crude tops $100 a barrel as Hormuz attacks mount

US crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday and topped $100 a barrel as Iran escalated its attacks in the Strait of Hormuz during the week, CNBC reported¹. NBC News reported oil prices jumping to nearly $110 per barrel, with renewed attacks in the strait and growing doubts about a US-Russia diesel deal pushing crude to levels not seen in a month². Oilprice.com put the level lower, describing prices as stuck at $105 as geopolitical risks mount⁴.

Yahoo Finance reported oil heading for a weekly gain with attention on Middle East supply, quoting the Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen saying conditions in the strait continue to underpin prices, and noting that WTI settled up more than 3% on Thursday³. The background to the move is a run of attacks that has made October one of the most violent months in the strait since the war began¹¹.

What Washington says

US Central Command said the Strait of Hormuz is under American and partner control rather than Iran’s, and said 1.3 billion barrels have moved under US escort, according to Kurdistan24, which also reported that over 50,000 American troops are deployed across the Middle East⁸. Its commander said the United States had prevented Iran from exporting $25 billion of crude, Breaking The News reported⁹. Al Arabiya reported the same figure, framing the military’s role as aiding a financial chokehold on Iran, and referred to a 38-day US military campaign¹⁰.

Those are the US military’s own claims about its own operations. Iran’s account differs: Tehran said a violating oil tanker was on fire near the eastern section of the strait, the second such incident there within a day, Saudi Gazette reported¹³.

What it means for shipping and prices

Container ships are being targeted with increasing frequency in the strait, FreightWaves reported, with one Singapore-flagged vessel sinking after a strike⁶. Two vessels sank in and around the strait during the week, including a Singapore-flagged container ship that went down with cargo still aboard⁷. Semafor reported that Iran’s escalating attacks have made October one of the most violent months in the strait since the war began¹¹, and separately that threats to global shipping are growing amid the rise in attacks¹².

More crude moving does not mean more refined product. Bloomberg reported the trading house Vitol saying a ship-fuel crunch will persist despite higher volumes, because accelerating crude exports through the strait are not translating into higher production of a dirty shipping fuel⁵. For investors the gap between the reported price levels is itself the point: the outlets in this pack put crude between $100 and $110 on the same day^1,2,4.