Oil prices rose on Thursday amid growing concern over the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as the U.S.-Iran war chokes off vital Middle East oil and gas flows while production facilities limit \u200coutput.Brent crude was trading up $1.67, or 2.05%, at $83.07 per barrel by 0141 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.94, or 2.60%, to $76.60.
The U.S.\u2013Iran war widened on Wednesday after a U.S. strike hit an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka and U.S. Senate Republicans backed President Donald Trump’s military campaign against Iran.They voted against a bipartisan resolution aiming to stop the air war and require \u2060Congress to authorise hostilities against Iran.Iraq, the second-largest crude producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has cut output by nearly 1.5 million barrels a day for lack of storage and an export route, officials told Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Qatar, the biggest liquefied natural gas producer in the Gulf, declared force majeure on gas exports on Wednesday, with sources saying a return to normal production volumes may take at least a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shipping via the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for nearly a fifth of global energy consumption, has ground to a near-halt for the fifth day during the war on \u200cIran \u2060and Tehran’s retaliation.Britain’s maritime trade operations agency reported a large explosion heard and seen by the master of a tanker anchored 30 nautical miles southeast of Kuwait’s Mubarak Al Kabeer, with a small craft later seen leaving the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran has refrained from targeting most critical energy infrastructure while keeping shipping risk extremely elevated, J.P. Morgan said \u2060in a client note, estimating that about 329 oil vessels are stuck in the Gulf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Storage capacity in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and prevailing energy prices are limiting factors on the length of the U.S. campaign,” \u2060it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reference was to the political and economic alliance of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of the oil fields can restart within days, with full \u2060capacity typically restored within two to three weeks, J.P. Morgan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“While operators must gradually rebuild reservoir pressure, particularly in Iraq, where water injection is critical, the primary constraint today is logistics rather than geology.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Oil prices rose on Thursday amid growing concern over the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as the U.S.-Iran war chokes off vital Middle East oil and gas flows while production facilities limit \u200coutput.Brent crude was trading up $1.67, or 2.05%, at $83.07 per barrel by 0141 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\n