Oil settles higher as US and Iran both claim Hormuz control

Expand Energy to acquire Twin Eagle for $1.25 billion from Five Point

Oil futures climbed through the August 18 session as the United States and Iran disputed control of the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping has been limited since a reopening agreement unraveled in July. Gains accelerated after an unconfirmed Iranian state media report said Iran had seized an Emirati oil tanker in the waterway. The Fars news agency said “the Iranian route is one of the conditions, and payment for services and Iran’s permit are other conditions that oil tankers must observe.” West Texas Intermediate settled up 2.5% at $84.50 a barrel and Brent rose 2.7% to $90.87, according to Dow Jones Newswires market reports.

President Trump told Fox News earlier in the day that he was in no hurry to resolve the U.S.-Iran conflict and warned Oman against interfering with the U.S. blockade of Iranian ships in the waterway. “There’s no talks happening and that’s all that the market heard,” Tracy Shuchart, senior economist at NinjaTrader Group, told Dow Jones Newswires. The 60-day U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding expired Monday, and the strait has seen limited shipping since the reopening agreed under the memorandum unraveled in July.

U.S. Central Command reported that its forces had redirected 64 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two “to ensure compliance” with the blockade. Kaynat Chainwala of Kotak Neo said in a note that oil prices remain “hostage to Hormuz transit data and any signal from the Iran-Oman channel. A durable reopening would cap upside, while further escalation points toward a retest of the $95 to $100/barrel band for Brent.” Chainwala also noted that the drawdown in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to its lowest level since the early 1980s was compounding supply concerns.

Shuchart described the current environment as one of “higher-for-longer oil,” with Brent rotating around $90 and WTI around $85 — levels she said remained “$20 to $25 higher than last year.” She attributed the persistent premium in part to Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, which she said were adding stress to product markets even as crude volatility had eased.

In corporate energy news, Houston-based Expand Energy announced a $1.25 billion deal to acquire natural-gas supplier Twin Eagle from private-equity firm Five Point Infrastructure. Gabriele Sorbara, a senior equity analyst at financial-services firm Siebert Williams Shank, said the acquisition increases the publicly traded energy company’s access to critical assets without substantial capital outlays. “They’re not really acquiring many assets from Twin Eagle,” Sorbara said of Houston-based Expand Energy. “But it has improved their margins.” Sorbara compared Expand’s approach with that of larger natural-gas producers such as EQT Corp., which about two years ago reacquired pipeline operator Equitrans Midstream in a roughly $5.5 billion deal. “Expand is doing it a little bit differently with Twin Eagle,” Sorbara added. “It’s really asset-light.”

Equinor agreed to acquire 87.7% of the Lackawanna gas-fired power plant in Pennsylvania for $940 million, a deal SB1 Markets analyst Teodor Sveen-Nilsen said increases the Norwegian company’s exposure to the rapidly growing U.S. electricity market. “We view the acquisition of Lackawanna as neutral to positive, but believe that the Equinor share is fully valued unless a long-term oil price of $85-$90 per barrel is assumed,” Sveen-Nilsen wrote, reiterating a neutral rating with a 365 Norwegian kroner target price. Equinor shares rose 1.6% to 394.20 kroner.

Berenberg analysts wrote that BP could resume share buybacks in 2027 as the British energy company cuts debt and shores up its balance sheet. Under current oil-and-gas price assumptions, the analysts expect $500 million in quarterly buybacks from the second quarter of 2027, delivering a full-year buyback of $1.5 billion for 2027, contingent on more than $6 billion in additional disposal proceeds. BP shares rose 1.7% to 528.30 pence.

In the technology sector, Digitimes Research reported that artificial-intelligence data centers are expected to move closer to adopting 800-volt direct-current power systems as demand for more powerful AI chips continues to rise. Digitimes analyst Chiayang Yao said the transition is likely to accelerate with the mass production of Nvidia’s Rubin Ultra GPUs in 2027. Competition is expected to center on cost, efficiency, power density and supply reliability.

Citi analyst Pierre Lau cut the target price on Hong Kong-listed Towngas Smart Energy to HK$3.40 from HK$3.80, citing headwinds from the company’s renewable-energy business after its first-half results missed expectations. Citi kept its rating unchanged. Towngas Smart Energy shares rose 4.1% to HK$3.28.

Australia’s Amplitude Energy signaled FY 2027 output of 26.6 to 28.5 petajoules equivalent, in line with consensus hopes at the midpoint, reflecting strong operational performance at its Orbost facility. FY 2027 capital expenditure guidance of A$250 million to A$310 million beat Jarden’s prior estimates. Analyst Nik Burns said this is largely a timing issue. “But we estimate East Coast Supply Project total costs are now at or above the top end of the prior range,” Jarden said. The next key catalyst will likely be the Juliet exploration well result, Jarden said. “We carry no value for this well in our valuation but could potentially add A$0.34/share upside in the success case,” Jarden said.

In Gulf equities, stocks in Abu Dhabi extended gains from the previous session while Qatar stocks continued to fall, with their benchmark indices up 0.2% and down 0.5% respectively. Mazen Abou Ismail, head of trading desk at FFA Private Bank Dubai, attributed Abu Dhabi’s relative strength to resilient earnings and its banking and telecom sectors, and said Qatar remained more vulnerable given its exposure to regional energy and LNG-related risks.