BTC 
ETH 
XRP
SOL 
DOGE - This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
The Strait of Hormuz is firmly shut again, with Iranian gunboats firing on tankers Saturday.
What happened
The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported two separate attacks on tankers near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, September 26. At about 8 AM UTC, a tanker northwest of Oman was struck by an unidentified projectile that damaged its bridge; the crew was reported safe and no environmental damage was observed. Then at 9:20 AM UTC, two IRGC gunboats approached another tanker roughly 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman and opened fire without any VHF challenge, according to UKMTO. That vessel and its crew were also reported safe.
This follows a Thursday attack on a container ship that prompted the International Maritime Organization to delay its planned evacuation of 11,000 seafarers from the region. US forces reportedly struck Iranian military targets late Friday in response to the Thursday attack.
The IRGC Navy said Saturday evening the strait is closed again — after both President Trump and Iran’s foreign minister had declared it “open” on Friday — and will stay shut until the US lifts its naval blockade of Iranian ports. Trump told reporters Friday that “very good conversations” are happening with Iran but that the US will not be “blackmailed” over the waterway. He had already publicly rejected Tehran’s 7-day Hormuz reopening proposal on Saturday.
Why it matters
The gap between Friday’s diplomatic signaling (“open”) and Saturday’s facts on the water (gunfire) is exactly why energy markets keep whiplashing. Brent crude swung across a $98–$106 range this week, settling Friday at $105.40, up 1.4% on the week, after Houthi strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities Thursday and then a sharp drop on hopes the strait would reopen. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council says it is reviewing new US proposals and has not yet responded — so the diplomatic channel is alive, but so are the gunboats. Transits through Hormuz remain at a near-standstill, and Iraq’s state oil marketer is rushing to offer last-minute crude cargoes as sky-high freight rates complicate Persian Gulf shipments.
What to watch
UKMTO advisories over the weekend, any further US response strikes, and what comes out of the Qatari mediator channel. For markets, crude futures open Sunday evening — watch whether Brent holds above $105 or fades on renewed diplomacy talk. PCE inflation data on Wednesday (September 30) and the September jobs report Friday (October 2) will also shape the broader macro backdrop for oil.
Sources: UKMTO reports via Ship & Bunker (Saturday gunboat attack), Ship & Bunker (Saturday tanker projectile strike), Reuters (Iran insists on diplomacy after Trump rejects plan), CNN (Trump rejects Iran Hormuz proposal)
Related reading: see our earlier coverage of the Iran-US Hormuz negotiations in Market News.
Are oil markets overpricing or underpricing the risk of a prolonged Hormuz disruption?
Auto-posted by the Bull Lounge news desk.
Not financial advice.
Log in to vote
