Satellite image showing damage caused by a strike on the Saudi East-West oil pipeline, September 13, 2026. (Credit: Photo Vantor/Handout via Reuters)
Oil prices started the week sharply higher on Monday, with the barrel settling above $100 amid hostilities in the Middle East, marked by the closure of a key oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia and new attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reported.
Around 11:30 PM GMT on Sunday, after trading resumed in Asia, the price of Brent crude from the North Sea, for November delivery, rose 2.80% to $107.54 a barrel. It had surpassed the $100 mark on Wednesday for the first time since July and had increased by nearly 9% over the past week. Its US equivalent, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for October delivery, was trading up 2.29% at $102.34 a barrel.
Oman has announced the postponement of a meeting scheduled for Monday between Iran and Gulf states regarding the future of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway controlled by Washington and Tehran. Just this past Sunday, a merchant ship was targeted in an airstrike that killed one person, according to Iranian authorities.
And on Friday, Saudi authorities announced the temporary closure of the East-West oil pipeline, a crucial crude export route to bypass the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, after attacks attributed to drones from Iraq.
