Oil prices head for fourth straight monthly gain as Hormuz tanker attack sharpens supply fears
Brent crude rose 2.4 percent on Friday to 117.64 dollars a barrel, its highest close since late April, putting oil on course for a fourth consecutive monthly gain as traders brace for escalation in the Iran war.
Oil prices are heading for a fourth consecutive monthly gain after a tanker attack in the Strait of Hormuz sharpened fears of supply disruption, pushing Brent crude to its highest close since late April.
Brent crude rose 2.4 percent on Friday to 117.64 dollars a barrel, capping a month in which prices climbed steadily as the war involving Iran, the United States and Israel widened across the Gulf's shipping lanes and energy infrastructure.
The latest jolt came when the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency reported that a tanker in the strait had been hit by explosive devices attached by a small boat. Maritime sources described it as the first known successful limpet-mine attack in the waterway since the war began in February, a method in which explosives are fixed directly to a ship's hull.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy separately said four oil tankers had caught fire and exploded in the strait after striking mines, including a vessel carrying more than two million barrels of crude. Reuters said it could not independently verify the Iranian account, but the reports were enough to put traders on edge.
The rally reflects a market bracing for escalation rather than reacting to a single incident. Reports this week said the United States could resume strikes on Iran after Tuesday's midterm elections, possibly as soon as 4 November, while Yemen's Houthis claimed strikes on Saudi refineries at Ras Tanura, Rabigh and Abqaiq, further widening the conflict's reach.
Supply concerns were compounded by a separate disruption in Libya, where the National Oil Corporation said an armed group shut a valve on Friday on the main Hamada crude pipeline linking the Hamada field to the Zawiya refinery.
Even so, the market picture is not one of outright shortage. Ship-tracking companies reported that Saudi Arabia's crude exports rose in October compared with September, despite Iranian attacks on shipping and Houthi claims of strikes on Saudi oil facilities, suggesting cargoes are still moving even as insurance costs and risk premiums climb.
The Strait of Hormuz remains the central chokepoint in the equation. The narrow waterway between Iran and Oman carries around a fifth of the world's energy supplies, and every incident there feeds directly into freight rates, insurance and the price refiners pay for crude.
Figures checked at 11:35 PKT on Saturday, 31 October 2026. Brent crude closed Friday at 117.64 dollars a barrel, up 2.4 percent on the day, on course for a fourth straight monthly gain.
Traders will now watch two things in the coming days: whether the reported diplomatic framework, which proposes reopening the strait within seven days of an initial understanding, gains any traction, and whether the period after the United States midterms brings the renewed military escalation that recent reports have suggested is possible. Either outcome could move prices sharply, in opposite directions.
This post is market news information only, not financial advice.
