Crude oil briefly dipped below $80 a barrel on Thursday but stayed close to one‑month highs, as escalating hostilities in the Middle East continued to bolster prices and undermine investor sentiment. The United States has intensified strikes on Iran, reportedly targeting an oil tanker near the country’s main export terminal for the first time since reimposing a blockade on Iranian ports.
Iran responded by launching attacks on US bases in Kuwait and Jordan and threatening to disrupt additional regional energy exports, characterizing the confrontation as an “existential war” with the United States. According to Reuters, crude loadings were halted at all Iraqi export terminals on Thursday after a drone hit an oil tanker at the Basra terminal.
Reuters also reported that tanker movements through the Strait have dropped to a two‑month low as the conflict has escalated. Only seven vessels passed through the waterway on Wednesday, the first full day after Washington reinstated its naval blockade on Iran, down from 13 the previous day.
