Projectile Strike on Kuwait Tanker in Hormuz Keeps ICE Brent Above $91
A projectile strike on a Kuwaiti oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz has kept ICE Brent front-month above $91, as tanker operators largely halt transits of the chokepoint.
ICE Brent crude front-month was trading at $91.49 a barrel on Wednesday (2026-08-19), holding above $91 after an unidentified projectile struck a Kuwait-owned oil products tanker in the Strait of Hormuz near Oman. The attack has renewed concerns about the safety of commercial shipping through the passage, OilPrice.com reported.6
Industry sources said tanker operators have largely suspended attempts to transit the strait since hostilities intensified, following renewed Iranian attacks and harassment of commercial vessels. Analysts said the deteriorating security environment is reinforcing expectations of tighter near-term crude supplies, with the ICE Brent futures curve remaining in backwardation.4
The Kuwait strike sits within a sequence of attacks that began in earnest in early July. Iran fired at least two missiles at commercial ships crossing the strait on Tuesday (2026-07-07), reviving fears over the chokepoint and a fragile truce between Washington and Tehran. WTI crude rose 1.50% to $69.575 and ICE Brent gained 1.64% to $73.169 in that session, rebounding after crude had recently erased most of its conflict-driven gains.1
That same day, the United States launched strikes on more than 80 Iranian military targets, sending ICE Brent surging more than 4% to $77.36 a barrel in Asian trading.2 Prices accelerated from there. Front-month ICE Brent gained 15.9% in the week of 2026-07-06, the largest weekly ascent since early March, and climbed $2.69, or 3.05%, to $90.79 by late Asian trade on Monday (2026-07-13), touching its highest level since June 11. NYMEX WTI front-month was up $2.19, or 2.65%, to $84.68 in the same session.3
Prices pushed above $90 again on Monday (2026-07-20) as fresh US strikes on Iran and Tehran's targeting of American bases and commercial vessels widened the conflict. Both ICE Brent and NYMEX WTI rose roughly 2% in early Asian trade before easing through the session.5 The upward pressure returned days later: ICE Brent hit $100 a barrel on Thursday (2026-07-23), its highest since late May and up more than 6% that session, after Yemen's Houthis said they struck two Saudi oil tankers, expanding disruption across both the Red Sea and Hormuz.7
Brent has since retreated from that $100 level. On Wednesday (2026-08-19) ICE Brent front-month stood at $91.49, down 0.82% on the session, while NYMEX WTI front-month was at $84.32, off 1.09%. The pullback from $100 has not come with any visible resumption of normal tanker traffic.4
ICE Brent backwardation tells a similar story. Prompt barrels are trading at a premium to forward delivery — the futures structure that emerges when traders expect near-term supply constraints rather than longer-dated scarcity.4
Asian LNG has tracked higher alongside crude. JKM front-month gained 0.91% to $22.08 per MMBtu on Wednesday (2026-08-19) as buyers watched whether Hormuz disruptions would tighten flows from Gulf LNG terminals.
Goldman Sachs expected ICE Brent to retain most of its recent gains through July and August, underpinned by lower Middle East production, declining global inventories, and seasonal demand.7 How much of that holds into September may depend more than anything else on whether tanker operators eventually resume Hormuz transits or extend the current moratorium into a supply shock that inventories can no longer absorb.