Brent crude reached a five-month high Thursday as traders assessed deadly incidents reported in Saudi Arabia and an unverified Iranian naval claim about vessels in Gulf waters near the Strait of Hormuz.
Reuters reported Brent futures at $111.64 a barrel at 06:26 GMT, up $2.82, or 2.59%. The Guardian later put Brent at $112, up 3% and at its highest since May 18. Reuters reported U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures gained $2.24, or 2.31%, to $99.39.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy said air defenses intercepted a drone approaching a facility at Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oil field on Oct. 21. The ministry reported a contractor’s vehicle fire outside the facility perimeter, two residents killed and two injured; it said operations were unaffected.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said an attack at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam killed two people and injured eight. A follow-up statement raised the reported death toll from one to two. GACA did not identify who carried out the attack.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said four vessels involved in oil transfers were struck and caught fire in the northern Persian Gulf on Wednesday. It said three more vessels struck mines west of Hormuz and did not name any of the ships. The Associated Press said it could not independently confirm the account. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) separately logged two tanker incidents involving unknown projectiles on Oct. 20 and 21; its alerts did not link them to Iran’s claim.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates average oil transit through the Strait of Hormuz at 20 million barrels per day in 2024, around one-fifth of global petroleum liquids use. The Associated Press reported that tanker operators were routing Gulf oil at night through a lane protected by U.S. forces and transferring cargo between ships. Citing Lloyd’s List Intelligence, AP said spot tanker charter rates reached hundreds of thousands of dollars per day and ship-to-ship transfers could take several days.
The Guardian reported American Airlines shares fell nearly 4% in premarket trading after the airline warned of “historic fuel cost pressure.”
