Six months into the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, Washington may find it harder to calm jittery oil markets after U.S. presidents drained the aging Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the last five years. The SPR, which Washington created after the oil crises of the 1970s, holds crude in a series of 60 underground salt caverns along the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. After years of releases by former President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, the reserve is at its lowest level since 1982, [Read more]

The UAE air force engaged a drone over its territorial waters that had come from Iran, the defence ministry said in a statement on Monday. It did not provide further details on the drone, including whether it was shot down or its intended target. The UAE foreign ministry later strongly condemned the Iranian drone attack as "a dangerous escalation that represents a flagrant violation of the state’s sovereignty, security and stability." It said the UAE reserved its full right to respond [Read more]

Oil operations at Iran's Kharg Island have not stopped, Hamid Bovard, CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company, said on Monday, according to Nournews, which said he denied the key oil hub was being destroyed, as U.S. President Donald Trump's social media post had said. "Trump's tweets are laughable and conditions in Kharg are calm and appropriate," Nournews cited him as saying, adding that the island, from which 90% of Iranian oil exports originate, had been bombed repeatedly by U.S. and [Read more]

Oil prices jumped more than $1 a barrel on Monday after the U.S. attacked an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz and drew retaliation from Tehran, as conflict in the Middle East extended into its sixth month. Brent crude futures climbed $1.08, or 1.23%, to $89.18 a barrel as at 0040 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $84.32, up 92 cents, or 1.10%. U.S. forces struck two launchers on Iran's Larak island in the Hormuz strait on Sunday, the first known American strikes on [Read more]

The number of visible commodity vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz dropped to five per day over the weekend, shipping data showed on Monday, as companies tread cautiously amid continued attacks on ships. The actual number of ships passing the strait could be higher as some vessels have switched off their automatic identification system to evade attacks. Weekend traffic was limited to small-sized vessels, data from commodities firm Kpler showed. These included two liquefied petroleum gas [Read more]

U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Iran's Larak island earlier on Sunday, Axios reported, citing a U.S. official. "Revolutionary Guard forces were observed preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines toward the Strait of Hormuz," Axios reporter Barak Ravid quoted the official as saying. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Edmund Klamann) [Read more]

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that oil from a recently struck deal with Venezuela will be used to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which has been drawn down sharply in recent years to respond to global supply disruptions and high fuel prices. Trump said in a social media post that the "topping out" process will begin shortly, describing the Venezuelan oil as a “Gift from Venezuela to the People of the United States.” It is unclear how quickly the Venezuela deal could [Read more]