Brent Holds Above $100 Amid Rising Supply Concerns - Sarmad

Oil prices held firm today on Thursday, after Brent crude surpassed the $100-a-barrel mark, as traders fear further supply disruptions amid escalating attacks by Iran and the United States on shipping traffic since the conflict began six months ago.

Brent crude futures rose 0.1 percent to $101.34 a barrel by 0107 GMT. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, climbed 0.5 percent to $96.55 a barrel.

Iran said on Wednesday that it had attacked ten ships near the Strait of Hormuz after the United States sank five Iranian oil tankers. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard stated it would escalate its response to any further attacks.

Daniel Hines, an analyst at ING, wrote in a client note that the reciprocal attacks suggest that oil flows from the Persian Gulf are likely to remain disrupted in the near future.

Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz remain well below pre-war levels.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday raised its oil price forecasts for this year and next, citing declining global inventories due to supply shortages from the Middle East.

Hines said, “The widening scope of the conflict threatens deeper disruptions in oil supplies, which has already pushed the oil market to struggle to adapt to the situation.”