Oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that “not a single drop of oil and gas” would be exported from the region while U.S. military action against Iran continues, according to Ship & Bunker.
The warning came amid a third consecutive night of U.S. military strikes on Iran. Ship & Bunker reports that oil climbed as much as 4.6 percent during the session before easing to roughly 2 percent after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would drop an earlier proposal to charge a 20 percent fee for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz safely.
According to Ship & Bunker, Trump indicated the fee proposal would instead be replaced by “trade and investment deals that the various Gulf states will be making into the United States,” a comment that reportedly left analysts questioning which countries may have agreed to such arrangements in exchange for safe passage.
Brent crude settled up $1.43, or 1.7 percent, at $84.73 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate settled up $1.20, or 1.5 percent, at $79.34, Ship & Bunker reports. The gain kept Brent in technically overbought territory for a second straight day, the first such occurrence since March.
Regional Tensions Escalate
Ship & Bunker also reports a series of related developments across the Gulf region. Oman blamed Iran for targeting three Liberian-flagged oil tankers in separate incidents off its coast, resulting in injuries to six people and the evacuation of crew members to nearby vessels. Kuwait, meanwhile, said it intercepted “hostile” projectiles over its airspace, though further details were not disclosed.
Qatar strongly condemned repeated Iranian attacks on Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait but called instead for “maintaining the path of dialogue, diplomacy and de-escalation,” according to the report.
Separately, Ship & Bunker notes that Odesa authorities confirmed a Russian drone strike on a commercial vessel in Ukraine’s Odesa region killed five seafarers and injured 12 others. The report states that ongoing Russian drone and missile strikes on Odesa’s ports over a three-day period also contributed to the rise in oil prices by the end of Tuesday’s session.
In related market news, Ship & Bunker reports that Azerbaijan is pursuing new transport and trade agreements with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan to expand Middle Corridor trade routes with Central Asian states.
Does This Matter to You?
Continued instability in the Strait of Hormuz and wider Gulf region, combined with attacks on tankers and commercial vessels, points to elevated operational and safety risk for transiting ships. The IRGC’s threat to halt regional oil exports, alongside reported tanker attacks off Oman and drone strikes on Odesa port infrastructure, may affect voyage planning, insurance considerations, and freight and bunker cost volatility. The direct scale and duration of impact on bunkering operations and trade flows is not yet clear from available reporting.
Gulf Bunkering does not provide operational or security guidance. This article is for informational purposes only. Operators should consult flag state authorities, P&I clubs, and relevant advisories for decisions relating to transit planning.
Sources: Ship & Bunker
