Hormuz shipments often around prewar levels; seven-day average about 26% below prewar baseline
Oil prices retreated Monday from recent highs as traders weighed efforts to ease U.S.-Iran hostilities against renewed Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and continued Middle East supply risks. December Brent crude futures fell 1.8% to $114.57 a barrel, and December West Texas Intermediate futures dropped 2.2% to $100.96 a barrel.
Despite the continuing security risks, oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz had recovered substantially. U.S. Central Command said Sunday that American forces had supported more than 3,000 commercial vessel transits through the waterway over the past six months.
U.S. Central Command also said American forces had helped Gulf partners export more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude since the summer.
Kpler data reported Friday showed that Hormuz shipments averaged 12.65 million barrels a day over seven days, about 26% below the prewar baseline of 17.15 million barrels a day. The data showed shipments had risen in recent weeks and were often around prewar levels.
Regional tensions remained elevated after the Saudi-led coalition said Monday that it had intercepted a ballistic missile launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia toward Riyadh. The Saudi Press Agency reported the coalition’s account.
The coalition also said it had carried out operations against Houthi missile launchers and storage facilities in Yemen in response to repeated attacks, the Saudi Press Agency said.
Diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation were continuing. The Wall Street Journal reported that Middle Eastern mediators were seeking to revive negotiations between Washington and Tehran as the United States prepared additional military options against Iran.
The pullback followed a sharp rally last week. Brent gained more than 6%, settling Friday at $116.72 a barrel, its highest closing level in nearly six months. U.S. crude ended the session at $103.27 a barrel.