Brent crude climbed to $100.80 a barrel on Tuesday, pushing the benchmark above the $100 threshold for the first time since last week. The jump came as President Donald Trump said he was open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Peshghehian before the UN General Assembly, and Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei confirmed Tehran was ready to re‑engage in talks.
Traders cut bearish bets after a slump, weighing the potential lift against ongoing regional flare‑ups. Shipping data from Reuters shows the Strait of Hormuz saw only 12 commodity vessels cross it last weekend, down from 35 the week before. The dip mirrors heightened tensions after Houthi attacks on Riyadh and a Saudi Aramco facility in Yanbu.
Saudi Aramco rerouted spillover traffic, loading about 14 million barrels onto seven supertankers inside the Gulf after attacks halted Yanbu pipeline shipments. A veteran tanker crew chief from the Gulf said the sudden surge in cargo is a relief after a month of cramped shipping lanes.
The next week will see the U.S. and Iran weigh the actual terms of a potential summit, with traders poised to react to any breakthrough that could shift the market further. A 35‑year‑old Saudi Aramco engineer remarked that the shift to the Strait of Hormuz has made his daily routes more unpredictable, underscoring how geopolitical jitters spill into the oil supply chain.