Fewer than 20 commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz at the weekend, shipping data showed on Monday, as Iranian and U.S. blockades restrict traffic through the chokepoint for energy shipments. Four vessels crossed the strait on Sunday, initial data from shiptracker Kpler showed by 0228 GMT, with 13 on Saturday. The figures could change as some ships had switched off transponders on their way through. That compared with Friday's figure of 16 transits, with two empty very large [Read more]

Oil prices slipped more than $1 a barrel on Monday as investors took profits ahead of an expected announcement from Washington about imposing more sanctions on Iran that may further disrupt supplies from the Middle East. Brent crude futures fell $1.22, or 1.29%, to $93.17 by 0035 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $85.86 a barrel, down $1.20, or 1.38%. Both contracts posted their second weekly gains last week, up more than 5%, as peace talks between the U.S. and Iran hit a [Read more]

The U.S. threatened Iran with what it called "the greatest financial offensive ever marshalled" as it prepared to roll out economic sanctions on Monday that target Iran's trade partners. Iran in turn vowed to shut down all oil exports from the Gulf "if the economic war continues." U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Monday amid promises to reveal even more severe measures on a country that has endured near-continuous economic sanctions [Read more]

Iran has discovered over 7.5 trillion cubic feet (212.4 billion cubic metres) of gas in a field in the south of its Fars Province, according to Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad quoted by state media on Sunday. * Given an estimated recovery ratio, Paknejad said it was possible to extract about 5,700 billion cubic feet of gas from that field. * Iran has estimated its pre-war production at around 650 million cubic metres (mcm) per day, which translates into around 8.4 trillion cubic feet per year. * [Read more]

Iran's foreign minister dismissed the threat of new U.S. sanctions as a sign of desperation on Sunday and said the expected new measures would fail to defeat Tehran. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is due to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Monday, has threatened to impose "the toughest sanctions in history" on Iran. Iran's economy is already under huge pressure from international sanctions, its infrastructure has been hit repeatedly and thousands of people have [Read more]

Iran has granted permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz following repeated requests from Baghdad through various channels, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday. IRNA said obtaining special permission for Iraqi tankers was one of Baghdad’s main requests during Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf’s visit to Iraq. Iraqi President Nizar Amedi said on Saturday that Iran had facilitated the passage of vessels carrying Iraqi oil [Read more]

The United States and Iran exchanged defiant messages ahead of Monday's scheduled announcement of new U.S. economic sanctions that could impact the Islamic Republic and Tehran's most important trading partners including China. As the war neared six months old, the two sides were not exchanging fire but also not pursuing peace talks. All the while, oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have virtually halted as Tehran clings to its leverage by threatening to strike any unauthorized oil [Read more]

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he did not think that Iran was ready make the "right deal," and that Washington was observing "what happens" in the conflict. "It just means that we're seeing what happens," Trump told reporters when asked if U.S. military options with Iran were limited. "We have total control of that entire region having to do with the Strait of Hormuz, and that means well into it, the land areas. So, they would love to make a deal, but they're not ready to make [Read more]

U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of rigs operating for the first time in four weeks, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Friday. The total oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by five to 588 in the week to August 21. Baker Hughes said the total count was still up 50 rigs, or 9.3%, from this time last year. Baker Hughes said oil rigs fell by three to 452 this week, while gas rigs fell by one to 127 and other [Read more]