Oil prices rose in Asian trade for a fourth straight session as investors weighed conflicting messages from Tehran and Washington over whether the Strait of Hormuz was open to shipping, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Brent futures, the benchmark for Europe, rose 69 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $91.71 a barrel.
U.S. light crude rose 76 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $85.70 a barrel. barrel.
Both grades ended trading at their highest levels in more than three weeks on Thursday as hopes for peace between the United States and Iran faded.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that there were no talks with Iran and insisted that the Strait of Hormuz was open. This contradicted Tehran's position that the key sea route remains closed to shipping.
The temporary truce expired on Monday. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that his country was taking action because of the diplomatic impasse, although there were no reports of new strikes by either side on Thursday.
„Risks to shipping are rising again as attacks by Iran and the Houthis continue around the two key sea lanes – “The Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb,” said Jun Guo, senior oil market analyst at Sparta Commodities. That, she said, supports oil prices in the short term.
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed, data released earlier today showed, with most shipowners avoiding the route due to the lack of clarity on whether the blockade has been lifted.
At the same time, Gulf producers are looking for alternative export routes to the Gulf of Oman. If those routes prove sustainable, Guo said, they could allow some of the temporarily suspended production to be restored.
To avoid the Strait of Hormuz, the Iraqi government has approved mechanisms to export crude oil through specialized international and local companies and through several different exit points. The contracts under the new scheme will be for three months, starting from September 1.
Two major Chinese shipping companies have also stopped sending oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb and are instead receiving cargoes outside the Persian Gulf.
In the United States, crude oil and distillate inventories fell last week, while gasoline inventories rose, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), citing market sources.
Official data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due later today. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast crude inventories falling by about 600,000 barrels in the week to Aug. 14.