NEW DELHI: Oil prices remained largely steady in early trade on Monday as a sharp decline in vessel movements through the Strait of Hormuz heightened concerns over global supplies, while efforts to resolve the US-Iran conflict showed little sign of progress.
Brent crude gained 0.42% to $88.89 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 0.21% to $82.57 as of 7.20 am.
The muted movement came after both benchmarks surged more than 5% last week following attacks on tankers operated by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in the Strait of Hormuz and a separate attack on a Saudi Aramco refinery.
In the Middle East, Iran and the United States remained at odds over efforts to resolve the conflict. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran had yet to decide whether to resume negotiations with Washington. US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, told Americans to expect somewhat higher gasoline prices for as long as the conflict continues.
Trading activity through the strategically important Strait of Hormuz nearly came to a halt over the weekend. Kpler ship-tracking data showed that only five commodity vessels crossed the strait on Saturday, while no such vessels were recorded on Sunday. This compared with 31 crossings during the previous weekend.
Among the vessels recorded entering the waterway on Saturday was an empty Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) whose Automatic Identification System (AIS) was switched off. An Indian-flagged Very Large Gas Carrier also entered through the Iranian route, while a small tanker carrying Iranian fuel oil was recorded leaving the strait, Reuters reported.
The slowdown followed attacks on three ADNOC-operated vessels in the waterway last week. The United Arab Emirates said a third ADNOC vessel was attacked while passing through the strait on Friday, according to the Emirati state news agency WAM. The UAE had earlier blamed Iran for two other incidents involving ADNOC vessels on Thursday evening.
Although vessels with their transponders switched off may not have been captured by tracking data, recorded traffic remained a fraction of the more than 130 vessels that crossed the Strait of Hormuz each day before the war launched by the US and Israel against Iran in February.
The United States has said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely. Araqchi said on Saturday that Washington would need to meet Iran’s conditions concerning the strait before shipping could resume.
Before the war, the waterway carried around a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, making any prolonged disruption a major risk to global energy supplies.
Traffic was also lower through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, where Yemen’s Houthis declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia on July 20. Kpler recorded 49 commodity vessel transits over the weekend, down from 55 the previous week. No Saudi oil shipments were tracked.
