By Reuters and published by Yahoo!News
SINGAPORE/BEIJING – Oil prices were trading more than 2% higher on Monday (Aug. 31) after the US attacked an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz and drew retaliation from Tehran, as their conflict extended into its sixth month.
Brent crude futures climbed $2.21, or 2.51%, to $90.31 a barrel as of 0436 GMT (11.36 a.m. in Thailand) while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $85.23, up $1.83, or 2.19%.
US forces struck two launchers on Iran’s Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, the first known American strikes on the country since late July.
In response, Iran attacked two US air bases in Jordan, Iranian media reported on Monday, citing Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
US President Donald Trump said in a brief social media post on Sunday that Iran’s energy hub of Kharg Island was being “blown to smithereens”, but there was no evidence that the island was under attack and the post, accompanied by an AI-generated clip, contained no further details.
Negotiations to end the conflict are at an impasse while mediators work to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil flowed before the war began at the end of February.
“We see more chances of contained confrontation rather than any sustained escalation in the conflict. What continues to be impacted with every flare up are the timelines for Hormuz ‘reopening’,” said Suvro Sarkar, head of energy research at DBS.
“We were earlier hoping that we could be back to deal negotiations for US-Iran by the end of 3Q, but that is looking more unlikely now. Thus, expect oil prices to remain rangebound in the $85-95 per barrel range unless more clarity emerges on the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.”
The number of visible commodity vessels that sailed through the strait over the weekend dropped to five a day, shipping data showed on Monday, reflecting caution among companies wary of attacks on ships.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported on Sunday that a tanker was struck by a projectile while sailing inbound through the strait on Saturday.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Reuters on Sunday that the US is likely to issue new secondary sanctions weekly on Iran.
Brent and WTI are set to post small declines in August after falling more than 4% last week, in what was their first weekly decline in three.
Trump said on Sunday that oil from a recently struck deal with Venezuela will be used to replenish the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which has dropped near its lowest level in 44 years.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Sunset clouds glow over pump jacks at the Airankol oil field operated by Caspiy Neft in the Atyrau region, Kazakhstan, on April 21, 2026. Photo – REUTERS/Pavel Mikheyev and published by CNA
Insert: The USS George Washington arrives at the port in Danang on July 30, 2026. The aircraft carrier is being redeployed to the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln following reports of deteriorating living conditions for its crew. Photo – File photo: AFP/Nhac Nguyen and published by CNA
Front Page: Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, on December 21, 2018. File photo – REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed and published by Yahoo!News
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