Key Points
- Brent crude rises 0.92% to $87.87 a barrel, while WTI gains 0.53% to $81.69.
- Both benchmarks are heading for weekly gains of more than 4%.
- Markets react to renewed tanker attacks and escalating rhetoric over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
HOUSTON: Oil prices rose on Friday as renewed attacks on tankers and escalating tensions between the United States and Iran raised concerns over disruption to crude supplies and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude futures gained 80 cents, or 0.92%, to $87.87 a barrel at 10:48 a.m. CT (1548 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 43 cents, or 0.53%, to $81.69 a barrel.
Brent was on track for a weekly gain of 5.09%, while WTI was set to rise 4.37% for the week.
Brent is heading for a roughly 5% weekly gain as stalled US-Iran talks and attacks around Hormuz tighten supply risks. With crude near $88, continued naval disruptions could push Brent toward the $100 threshold. #Oil #Brent #Hormuz #Iran https://t.co/i9uK1AGCAN
— OilPrice.com (@OilandEnergy) August 14, 2026
Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB Research, said higher oil prices reflected the latest US approach towards Iran, which offered little prospect of a near-term resolution.
Indefinite naval blockade of Iran
The United States said on Thursday that it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely and intensify economic pressure on Tehran amid stalled ceasefire talks, adding to uncertainty in global energy markets.
“Watch this space for more announcements coming next week because we are going to apply measures like have never been seen in the history of economic isolation of a country,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Newsmax’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight” programme.
“A return to normal flows out of the Strait of Hormuz is now suddenly without any near-term hopes,” Schieldrop said.
As the United States and Iran traded claims over control of the Strait of Hormuz, shipping traffic through the strategic waterway fell below its monthly average, adding to concerns over global energy supplies.
The strait handled around one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before US and Israeli attacks on Iran began in late February.
Two vessels operated by the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company were attacked while transiting the strait on Thursday, according to the United Arab Emirates’ state news agency WAM. The UAE government condemned the incident as an Iranian attack.
Also Read: Oil Prices Keep Rising with Fading US-Iran Deal Hopes
Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group, said the tanker attacks were a major factor behind the rise in oil prices.
Oil markets also faced additional supply concerns after crude exports from Russia’s Sheskharis terminal at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk were suspended on Friday following a drone attack, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The terminal is one of Russia’s key crude export outlets.
Flynn said the Ukrainian attack on Novorossiysk was also contributing to higher oil prices.
However, concerns over constrained Middle East supplies were partly offset by forecasts from OPEC for weaker demand growth and a sharp increase in US crude inventories, which recorded their largest weekly rise in more than three and a half years.
“This week’s reports by the IEA and EIA were quite revealing. Storage is holding up much better than feared, which should pull oil prices lower,” said Norbert Rucker, head of economics and next generation research at Julius Baer, referring to the International Energy Agency and US Energy Information Administration.
