Headlines

A tanker was struck by an unknown projectile 63 nautical miles west of Saudi Arabia's port city of Yanbu, leading to a fire on the vessel's main deck, the United Kingdom ​Maritime Trade Operations said on Monday. The UKMTO said all crew were safe and accounted for with no reported environmental impact. Yanbu is Saudi Arabia's main Red Sea oil port, where millions of barrels a day are loaded, and has become the main route out for Saudi oil skirting the ​Strait of Hormuz, which has been [Read more]

Iran has issued a warning that vessels violating its arrangements for transiting the Strait of Hormuz could face restrictions, including fines, detention, or confiscation, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority wrote in a post on X. The warning heightens risks for the charterers and shipowners whose vessels transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the world's energy shipments. The PGSA, a new body Iran has established with the aim of managing the strait, has said cargo owners [Read more]

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]