FX.co ★ Oil Hovers at 5-Week High

Crude oil hovered near $82.50 per barrel on Monday, holding around a five-week high after volatile trading as markets weighed rising tensions in the Middle East against renewed diplomatic efforts. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels imposed a ban on maritime traffic from Saudi Arabia, heightening concerns over Red Sea energy shipments, while recent attacks on oil tankers and energy infrastructure in Kuwait kept supply risks elevated. At the same time, reports indicated that mediators had proposed a 10-day pause in hostilities between the US and Iran in an effort to stabilize their fragile interim peace arrangement. Iran confirmed it had received diplomatic proposals aimed at de-escalating the conflict. Nonetheless, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remained severely disrupted following new attacks on commercial vessels. Beyond the Middle East, supply worries were compounded by renewed drone strikes that again halted oil loadings at Russia’s Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal on the Black Sea.