Oil prices rose for a fourth straight day early Thursday as the Iran crisis shifted from another military headline into a sharper global energy-market warning. Reuters, in a report carried by WTVB, said Brent crude climbed to $85.28 a barrel by 0026 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose to $80.02, with both benchmarks hovering near one-month highs.
The move came after another wave of U.S. strikes on Iranian military installations and after Washington reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports. Reuters reported that the United States struck Iranian coastal defenses and missile sites on Wednesday, while Iran threatened to shut off more regional energy exports and described the confrontation as an “existential war” with America.
That makes this a new angle from the earlier blockade and Belma tanker stories. The latest development is not just that the Strait of Hormuz is dangerous. It is that oil markets are now pricing the risk that the disruption lasts, spreads, or pulls other export corridors into the conflict.
Brent is back near one-month highs
Reuters, via WTVB, reported that Brent crude futures rose 33 cents, or 0.4%, to $85.28 a barrel, while WTI gained 42 cents, or 0.5%, to $80.02. Both contracts had also gained Wednesday and were trading near the one-month highs reached Tuesday.
The same report quoted Hiroyuki Kikukawa, chief strategist of Nissan Securities Investment, saying that renewed Middle East tensions had put buyers back in control. He said WTI could still climb into the $85 to $87 range depending on how the conflict develops, even if many market participants still assume a full-scale war can be avoided.
The bigger warning came from Goldman Sachs. Reuters reported that Goldman said Brent could exceed $110 in the fourth quarter if the Gulf export recovery continues to stall. The bank also said prices could fall into the $60s by year-end if tensions ease and production recovers faster than expected.
Hormuz is still the pressure point
The Strait of Hormuz remains the core risk because so much oil and liquefied natural gas normally moves through the narrow waterway. Reuters said the strait handled about a fifth of the world’s oil and LNG trade before the war began.
The Guardian reported that U.S. Central Command said American forces launched another wave of strikes against Iranian targets connected to threats against vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The Guardian also reported that CENTCOM said U.S. aircraft disabled the Curacao-flagged M/T Belma after it tried to sail toward an Iranian port under the renewed blockade.
Al Jazeera reported that U.S. strikes have targeted Iranian drone, missile, surveillance, naval, and coastal-defense capabilities, while Iran has argued that U.S. military bases in the region are legitimate targets because Tehran is acting in self-defense.
Those reports point to the same energy-market problem: even if individual ships keep moving, companies, insurers, traders, and governments now have to plan around repeated strikes, blockade enforcement, Iranian threats, and the possibility of disruptions beyond Hormuz.
The risk is spreading beyond one chokepoint
Reuters reported that analysts believe Iran has signaled it may use Houthi allies in Yemen to threaten the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea. If that happened, the crisis would threaten two of the world’s most important energy arteries at once.
That does not mean $110 oil is guaranteed. It means the market has stopped treating the latest violence as background noise. A fourth straight day of gains shows traders are starting to price in a longer disruption scenario, not just a one-day shock after a strike headline.
For the United States, the pressure is to show that the blockade and strikes can protect shipping without detonating the wider Gulf energy system. For Iran, the pressure is to respond without cutting off the export routes it still needs for leverage. For everyone else, the question is uglier and simpler: how much more expensive does this get if Hormuz does not calm down soon?
This is a developing story. Oil prices, shipping movements, and military statements may change quickly as the U.S.-Iran crisis continues.