Brent settles at over USD100

Brent crude futures closed above USD100 a barrel on Wednesday, with the front-month contract settling at USD101.21 after a 3.4 percent gain, Business Recorder reported. The close was the highest for the benchmark since late May, as Iran and the United States hit tankers in the heaviest round of ship attacks since the conflict started.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains far below its pre-war peak, with six commodity vessels transiting on Tuesday compared with nine a day earlier, according to preliminary Kpler data. Rystad Energy's chief economist, Claudio Galimberti, estimated flows at roughly 8 million to 9 million barrels per day in the week before fighting resumed on August 30, but flows have since dropped below 2 million bpd.

On Wednesday the US Energy Information Administration pushed up its price projections for oil in the present year and the next, as global stockpiles were falling quickly. In physical trading, dated Brent, which underpins roughly two-thirds of supply, has held above USD100 a barrel since September 3, LSEG figures show. US gasoline averages about USD4.22 a gallon, while diesel is at a record and nearing USD6 a gallon.