Hormuz and Red Sea shipping, oil and gas, aviation, and market moves.
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Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC he expects the East-West pipeline, which has moved 4 to 5 million barrels a day, to resume within days, and said Saudi Arabia was sending more oil out through Hormuz 'with the United States military' in the meantime. He called the pipeline strikes 'Iran-supported attacks from proxy groups.'
Oil loadings stopped at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Yanbu, shipping sources told Reuters, four days after drones launched from Iraq forced the shutdown of the East-West pipeline that feeds the terminal.
The IRGC said a supertanker it called 'Algaya' struck naval mines while crossing a restricted zone south of the strait and was engulfed in flames. CENTCOM called the claim false, saying the Panama-flagged El Gaia was disabled by an Iranian missile last month, hit again by an Iranian drone off Oman at the weekend, and was under tow.
The cost of hiring an oil tanker on the industry's benchmark Persian Gulf-to-China route surpassed $1 million a day for the first time, with vessels booked at $1.035 million a day according to the Baltic Exchange in London, as the Iran war leaves too few ships willing to cross the Strait of Hormuz to load cargoes.
Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority published an updated list of 77 vessels accused of 'violating Iranian protocols' in the Strait of Hormuz, warning they face restrictions on future passage including fines, detention or confiscation, and said ships cooperating with the US would be added.
Brent crude rose $3.62, or 3.5%, to $108.23 a barrel by 22:14 GMT as trading opened for the week, and WTI rose $3.15 to $103.20, after the shutdown of Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline, new Houthi strikes on the kingdom and the collapse of the Iran-Gulf Hormuz meeting. Brent held near $108 on Monday morning.
Demonstrations broke out in Syria over sharp fuel price increases, with gasoline up roughly 30% and diesel up roughly 40%, a jump attributed to global fuel-price pressure stemming from the ongoing U.S.-Iran war.
Buyers and traders told Reuters the East-West pipeline outage could affect about 4% of global oil supply if pumping does not resume within days, with repair estimates of five to six weeks; sources said Saudi Arabia had only five to seven days of oil stored at Yanbu.
Times of Israel Liveblog, The Times of Israel live blog +2 more
A vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz was hit by an unknown projectile late on Saturday, UKMTO said in warning 134-26; a fire later broke out on board and local authorities helped evacuate the crew.
Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said it had suspended the East-West pipeline as a precaution after the line was 'subjected to multiple attacks' on Thursday that injured several people; US officials said pump stations were hit. The pipeline carries crude to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, the kingdom's main export route while Hormuz is closed.
The International Energy Agency said the global supply deficit would worsen this year, with world oil inventories falling a further 95 million barrels last month, and that it does not expect Gulf producers' supplies to fully recover until next year.
Average US diesel prices passed $6 a gallon for the first time on record, according to GasBuddy data released Thursday and cited by Reuters, beating the previous week's record of $5.85.
The master of a vessel reported seeing four unknown projectiles strike two unidentified vessels about 4 nautical miles west of Khasab, on Oman's Musandam peninsula, setting one on fire, UKMTO said. The status of the second vessel was unknown.
The IRGC navy said it struck a 'Saildrone-type' US unmanned surface vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, 'thwarting its aggressive mission,' and said Washington had deployed unmanned vessels to the strait in recent days. There was no immediate US comment.
US Central Command said its forces had redirected 96 commercial ships and allowed more than 50 vessels carrying humanitarian supplies through since the blockade of Iranian ports was reimposed in mid-July.
Brent crude futures spiked to $109.20 a barrel on Thursday, from $105.26 at midday, and settled up 6.3% at $107.63; WTI topped $100 for the first time since May and closed at $103.82. The moves followed the biggest wave of attacks on Gulf shipping of the war and the Houthi capture of Mocha.
Iran temporarily suspended a 10% charge on freight fees for foreign vessels carrying oil, gas and liquid petroleum products to and from the country, Fars reported, until the government approves a list of products subject to the charge.
An IRGC spokesman said a restricted maritime area running from Chabahar into parts of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea would be announced, with exact coordinates to follow, and that any ship passing through it would be sanctioned.
UKMTO said several merchant vessels were hit by 'disabling fire' in the northern Gulf and Gulf of Oman. One seafarer was killed and another was missing aboard the products tanker Hercules Star at anchor off Dubai, its charterer said, and Iraqi officials said the tanker New Andros, carrying 2 million barrels of fuel oil, caught fire after a drone strike in Iraqi waters.
Brent crossed $100 a barrel early Wednesday for the first time since July 24, reaching $100.07 by 07:21 GMT, and settled up 3.4% at $101.21, its highest close since May 22; WTI settled at $96.05. Goldman Sachs said intensifying attacks on shipping raised the risk of oil above $120.
MarineTraffic data compiled by Al Jazeera showed 42 tankers waiting to transit the Strait of Hormuz as of Sep 7, 18 of them carrying oil with a combined capacity of about 11.1 million barrels.
The IRGC navy said it captured a 'modern' unmanned US submersible at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, and Iranian state media identified it as an Anduril Dive-LD. A US official told Al Jazeera an older underwater drone surveying regional waters had malfunctioned more than a day earlier and carried no classified equipment.
Brent rose about 2% to $99.05 a barrel in early Tuesday trading after closing Monday at $97.92, and WTI rose 2.8% to $94.04, after US officials told The Wall Street Journal Iran had tried to attack Navy ships on Monday following a weekend missile attack on a carrier. No US ships were hit.
Aramco oil facilities in Jizan were struck on Monday, a month after an earlier attack disrupted production at the refinery there, the Financial Times reported, citing two people familiar with the matter; damage was being assessed. Saudi Arabia did not acknowledge the attack and no group claimed it, though ISW assessed a Houthi missile strike was likely.
Iranian crude held on tankers outside the US blockade fell from roughly 90 million barrels in mid-July to about 29 million barrels, according to Kpler data cited in the ISW-Critical Threats Iran Update for Sep 7.
Brent crude rose 79 cents to $97.07 a barrel by 05:12 GMT on Monday and WTI gained 80 cents to $92.28, Reuters reported, after weekend US strikes on three Iranian tankers and Iranian attacks on ships in Hormuz. Brent was up about 9% over five days, close to its July 24 peak of $97.93.
Kpler data cited by Reuters showed the 10-day average of commodity vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz fell to 10 a day on Sunday, from more than 15 on Friday; only two ships crossed on Saturday and six on Sunday, mostly using Iran's route.
Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said that from Tuesday, gasoline used beyond 110 liters a month will cost 100,000 rials a liter, while the two lower subsidized quotas keep their current prices.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told state TV that a zone running from the U.S. blockade line toward the strait and into the Persian Gulf would be announced in the coming days, and that any ship entering it to transit Hormuz would be put on Iran's sanctions list. He also said shipping-route maps agreed with Oman would be signed in the coming days.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in Sunday TV interviews that about 9 million barrels of oil a day are getting through the Strait of Hormuz, putting flows including regional pipelines at "two-thirds or more" of pre-war levels, and that the U.S. is "strangling" Iran's economy. AP noted his figure appeared to exceed the 28-day average tracked by TankerTrackers.com and other sources.