Crude oil climbed to about $103.50 a barrel on Tuesday, its highest level in four months, extending the previous session’s 1.3% advance as traders focused on ongoing disruptions to Middle Eastern supplies. Saudi Arabia’s East–West pipeline remains offline following attacks last week, constraining a key alternative route for moving crude outside the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Aramco has not given a timeline for restoring operations, while Riyadh is seeking to boost shipments through Hormuz to offset the outage.
At the same time, Iran reiterated that it will not enter talks with Washington until its own conditions are met, despite US President Donald Trump indicating that Tehran was eager to reach a deal. Separately, divergent comments from Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have added to uncertainty over a potential halt to attacks on energy infrastructure.
