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Posted September 10, 2026 at 10:30 am
Brent hit $105 and WTI topped $100 after a spike in tanker attacks near the Strait of Hormuz, with analysts watching whether China’s buying stays firm.
Oil jumped back above $100 a barrel after a spike in tanker attacks near the Strait of Hormuz raised the risk that Gulf shipments could be delayed or disrupted.
By 12:15 GMT, Brent crude futures were up 4% at $105.26 a barrel and US benchmark WTI was up 4.15% at $100.04, according to Reuters. The move is less about a sudden demand boom and more about “can the barrels get there?”: when traders think a key shipping lane might choke up, they price in delays, higher insurance and freight costs, and a bigger chance that buyers need extra inventory just in case.
That anxiety is landing on top of a market that already looks tighter. A Reuters survey showed OPEC output fell by 640,000 barrels per day in August, which reduces the cushion if something goes wrong. Analysts also flagged China as the swing factor: if the world’s biggest crude importer keeps buying at a firmer pace, any supply hiccup in the Gulf has a faster path into higher prices, even as OPEC has been trimming its longer-term demand growth forecasts.
For markets: Brent at $105.26 can move the “front end” first.
When the story is shipping risk and fewer barrels available right now, the nearest oil contracts usually do most of the moving. Buyers pay up for prompt delivery, which can tilt the oil market into backwardation, where near-term prices sit above longer-dated ones.
That structure matters beyond energy stocks: it tends to lift near-term inflation expectations first, because higher crude filters quickly into fuel and transport costs, even if it doesn’t say much about longer-run growth.
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Originally Posted September 10, 2026 – Oil Pops Back Over $100 As Gulf Shipping Risks Grow
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