Iran energy threats lift oil prices to six-week highs

Oil climbed to its highest levels in six weeks on Monday (September 7, 2026), after Iran threatened to attack energy infrastructure across the Middle East if Washington launched further strikes on Iranian assets.

Brent crude futures briefly reached US$98.06 a barrel, their highest since July 24, before settling at US$97.31, up US$1.03, or 1.1%. The US Labor Day holiday brought settlement forward by about an hour to 1.30pm Eastern Daylight Time, or 5.30pm GMT.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, which had no settlement on Monday because of the holiday, was trading at US$92.65 a barrel at 1.45pm Eastern Daylight Time, up US$1.17, or 1.3%. Its earlier peak of US$93.29 was also the highest since July 24.

“Strike our assets and you get struck,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Monday. His remarks appeared to answer US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s warning that Iran’s oil fleet was “defenseless”.

Shipping attacks deepen supply concerns

The weekend exchange of US and Iranian strikes on tankers and warships represented a major escalation, maritime intelligence firm Marisks said. The war began when the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.

“Commercial tankers are now being deliberately used as instruments of reciprocal economic pressure, substantially weakening the previous distinction between military confrontation and commercial shipping,” Marisks said.

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz averaged 10 commodity vessels a day over the preceding 10 days, the lowest level since May, according to figures released on Monday by analytics company Kpler.

Priyanka Sachdeva, head of market insights at Phillip Nova, warned that a substantial slowdown in tanker movements could prompt traders to price in a much greater supply disruption.

“If tanker traffic begins to slow materially, the market could price in a much larger supply shock. And there are already signs that this is happening,” she said.

Goldman Sachs said crude could reach US$120 a barrel if attacks on shipping intensified.

Iran also plans to announce a restricted zone outside the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days, according to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of its Supreme National Security Council.

Refinery attack reported as regional fighting spreads

Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery was attacked on Monday, the Financial Times reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. The extent of the damage was still being assessed.

Oman said it had evacuated 16 crew members from a Saudi-owned tanker attacked by Iran a week earlier. Saudi Arabia had said two seafarers died in that attack.

Israeli strikes on a town in southern Lebanon killed at least 12 people on Monday, the Lebanese health ministry said. It was one of the deadliest days of bombardment in recent weeks, adding to regional tensions.

The United Arab Emirates is developing alternative routes for trade and energy exports, presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said on Monday, to prevent them from being “held hostage” by the US-Iran war.

Stockpiles fall while producers hold policy steady

The latest gains followed a rise of about 8% in Brent and nearly 10% in WTI last week after US-Iran attacks resumed. The conflict has sharply curtailed regional oil supplies and forced countries to draw down reserves to avert shortages.

PVM Energy analysts said petrol and distillate fuel inventories in the United States, the world’s largest oil producer and consumer, were substantially below both year-earlier levels and five-year seasonal averages.

“The current roundup indicates a slightly more dire picture than the last time we took stock a few weeks ago,” they said.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, agreed at Sunday’s meeting to leave October oil output policy unchanged, the group said in a statement. Producers must agree on new quotas before deciding their next production steps.