Archive: The LNG tanker Shahamah. 青空白帆, CC BY 2.1.
Oil futures resume trading Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern after reported attacks on commercial ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz passed 30 in October, the highest monthly total since the U.S.-Iran war began, according to UKMTO data. U.S. crude settled Friday at $102.95 a barrel, up 0.9% on the day.
In the latest attack, an unknown projectile struck the Marshall Islands-flagged LNG tanker AL MAYEDA about 40 nautical miles off Iran’s Lavan Island on Friday evening, starting a fire aboard; the crew was reported safe, according to a UKMTO report. A day earlier, a small boat attached two explosive devices to a tanker northeast of Khasab, Oman, temporarily disabling it.
Saudi air defenses downed eight missiles and drones since early Friday as a Houthi barrage reached the oil-rich Eastern Region, according to coalition statements.
The U.S. Central Command said 144 commercial vessels have been redirected to enforce compliance with the American blockade of Iranian ports. Iranian negotiators, meanwhile, held Qatar-mediated talks in Doha with no deal yet on reopening direct U.S. talks.
The strait is the exit route for Gulf crude and LNG cargoes, and commercial traffic through it has run well below pre-war levels, according to the latest Joint Maritime Information Center advisory.
JBizNews Desk | New York
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