Brent crude climbed to $89.53 a barrel on Wednesday, extending a rally that has lifted prices roughly 24 percent since the US-Israel war on Iran began in late February, as maritime confrontations intensified across the region's key waterways.
US Central Command fired on the Panama-flagged M/V Vela Nova after it attempted to break the American blockade of Iranian ports, while Yemen's government accused the Houthis of killing six people in missile strikes on a commercial vessel in the Bab al-Mandeb strait. President Donald Trump claimed the US exercises "total control" over the Strait of Hormuz, though Iran insisted the passage will remain closed until Washington meets its demands. Just 10 vessels transited the strait on Monday, compared with roughly 130 daily before the conflict, even as Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the seven-day average for oil flows had recovered to about 9 million barrels per day.
Meanwhile, US crude inventories surged by 17.4 million barrels in the week ended August 7, far exceeding economists' expectations for a drawdown, though the EIA forecasts Middle East output will not approach pre-conflict levels until early 2027.