Brent Settles Near $108 and WTI Above $103 as Hormuz Traffic Drops to Seven Transits, Tanker Rates Hit $800,000/Day Record

Brent crude settled near $108 per barrel on September 10, the highest in nearly four months, while West Texas Intermediate rose above $104 after surging almost 7 percent in the previous session, according to Bloomberg, Trading Economics, and Forbes Advisor. Crude oil rose to $102.59 per barrel on September 11, up 0.11 percent from the previous day and up 63.65 percent compared to the same time last year, according to Trading Economics. The rally follows renewed US-Iran hostilities after Iran fired 20 ballistic missiles at Jordan on September 9, with Jordan intercepting 18 of them, and four projectiles striking two commercial vessels near Khasab, Oman, on September 10, setting one ablaze.

Vessel transits at the Strait of Hormuz fell to seven on Thursday September 10 from 11 the previous day, preliminary ship-tracking data from Kpler showed on Friday September 11, well below the 10-day average of 15, according to Business Recorder and Reuters. Of the seven vessels, two Panamax ships exited the strait while five vessels entered, according to Kpler data as of 0306 GMT. The figures exclude any vessels that might have crossed the strait with their Automatic Identification System transponders turned off to avoid detection. Before the Iran war started on February 28, the strait typically handled about 125 large commercial vessels per day, accounting for some 20 percent of the world's daily crude oil and liquefied natural gas supply.

Global tanker freight rates are surging to record levels, with earnings for supertankers sailing on the benchmark Middle East-to-China route reaching a record of nearly $800,000 per day, according to Bloomberg, gCaptain, and OilPrice.com. For the US Gulf to Asia run, charterers have been offering very large crude carriers at a record lump-sum fee of $29.5 million, close to $15 per barrel without considering additional war risks or fees for unexpected delays. Freight analysis from data intelligence firm Kpler suggests daily earnings for VLCCs w

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Sources: Bloomberg, Trading Economics, Business Recorder, Reuters, gCaptain, OilPrice.com, Forbes Advisor, Kpler ship-tracking data. Figures verified across multiple outlets and official market data sources.