Photo courtesy of Anadolu
Oil prices moved higher Monday as renewed tensions between the United States and Iran raised concerns over security around key Middle Eastern energy routes.
Global benchmark Brent crude traded above $97 per barrel as of 0700 GMT, about 0.8 percent higher than Friday’s close. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate rose around 0.6 percent to $92 per barrel.
The gains followed a claim by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that it had destroyed a US military surveillance aerostat in a drone strike near Erbil airport in northern Iraq.
Concerns over maritime trade also intensified after Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, announced plans for a new restricted maritime zone outside the Strait of Hormuz. He warned that vessels entering the designated area could be placed on an Iranian sanctions list.
The Strait of Hormuz is particularly important to energy markets because it provides a passage between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, making disruptions in and around the waterway a significant risk to global oil supplies.
Another maritime incident occurred off Yemen, where government forces said the Coast Guard intercepted an oil tanker Sunday after it allegedly delivered an unauthorized cargo to the Houthi-controlled Ras Isa port in Al-Hudaydah.
The latest developments come despite a memorandum of understanding reached by the United States and Iran in June with mediation from Pakistan and Qatar. The agreement outlined steps toward reducing hostilities, restoring navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and addressing economic restrictions.
Relations have remained strained since then, with Washington and Tehran accusing each other of failing to fulfill commitments. Continuing military and maritime tensions have kept geopolitical risks elevated, adding upward pressure to oil prices.