West Texas Intermediate crude futures for November delivery rose 5.23% to $109.08 a barrel as of 7:04 a.m. ET on Tuesday as attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz escalated. The contract expires on Tuesday.
WTI is poised for a ninth straight winning session and a gain of nearly 20% for the month. December Brent crude futures climbed 1.65% to $111.36 a barrel, a peak not seen since May, according to CNBC.
No fewer than 18 vessels have been targeted in the strait during the last fortnight, according to CNBC. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Tuesday that two "non-compliant" oil tankers caught fire after striking mines its naval unit had planted, according to CNBC.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said Tuesday that Tehran's reply to any U.S. strike would come "in equal measure, if not more forcefully," according to CNBC. President Donald Trump said this month that the U.S. military will hold off on striking Iran until after the Nov. 3 midterm elections, according to CNBC.
Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates, told CNBC that the firmness of front-end WTI as its contract nears expiry signals a squeeze on worldwide oil supply. "It is a reflection of falling export volumes from the Middle East as tanker attacks and Houthi strikes on Saudi oil infrastructure intensify," he said.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said shipments of crude leaving the Gulf have rebounded to nearly 80% of what they were before the war, according to Euronews. Supplies of refined fuels are more limited, according to Euronews.
Oil prices surged at the start of September after U.S. military action against Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz, which followed Iranian attacks on vessels in the waterway. The U.S. and Iran had signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17, but the agreement collapsed. Iran has since demanded sanctions relief and an end to the U.S. naval blockade before the waterway can reopen.
The International Energy Agency cut its 2026 global oil supply forecast to 102 million barrels per day in August, citing the breakdown of the ceasefire and a renewed closure of the strait.
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