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Get you up to speed: Oil prices rise as attacks dent hopes for Strait of Hormuz reopening
Yemen’s internationally recognised government has accused the Iran-aligned Houthis of killing six individuals in missile attacks on a commercial vessel in the Bab al-Mandeb strait. The incident involved casualties, including two members of the security forces who were on a rescue mission following the attack.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry reported that negotiations between Oman and Iran regarding the Strait of Hormuz are in an advanced stage, though Tehran insists reopening the strait hinges on US agreement to specific conditions. According to the US Energy Information Administration, oil production in the Middle East is not expected to rebound to pre-conflict levels until early 2027.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government has condemned the Iran-aligned Houthis for missile attacks that killed six individuals on a commercial vessel, prompting a call for action amid escalating violence. The US Energy Information Administration has projected that oil production in the Middle East will not reach pre-conflict levels until early 2027, indicating continued uncertainty in energy markets.
What remains unclear — It is not confirmed when the Strait of Hormuz might reopen or what specific conditions Iran requires for this to occur.
Oil prices increase as attacks hinder Strait of Hormuz reopening prospects
Economy|Business and EconomyOil prices rise as attacks dent hopes for Strait of Hormuz reopening
Brent crude climbs as renewed violence dampens hopes for a return to stability in energy markets.
Published On 12 Aug 202612 Aug 2026
Published On 12 Aug 202612 Aug 2026Oil prices have jumped as attacks on shipping in the Middle East cast doubt on prospects for a breakthrough in negotiations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude rose more than 2 percent overnight into Wednesday, taking the international benchmark to close to $90 a barrel.
Brent futures for October delivery stood at $89.61 as of 03:00 GMT, up about 24 percent compared with before the start of the US-Israel war on Iran in late February.
“Markets have not completely lost hope for a deal, but confidence is clearly eroding,” Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at Australia-based KCM Trade in Sydney, told WTX News.
“The longer talks drag on without visible progress, and the more complex the reported demands become, the greater the scepticism that a workable agreement can be reached quickly,” Waterer said.
“Optimism from earlier in the month is steadily being replaced by a more cautious, risk-premium-driven stance.”
Yemen’s internationally recognised government on Tuesday accused the Iran-aligned Houthis of killing six in missile attacks on a commercial vessel in the Bab al-Mandeb strait, which divides the Arabian Peninsula from the Horn of Africa.
Yemen’s coastguard said the victims included two members of the security forces who had been deployed on a rescue mission following the initial attack.
US Central Command said later in the day that it attacked and disabled a Panama-flagged cargo vessel after it attempted to break the US blockade of Iranian ports.
Oil prices have seen an upward trajectory over the past week amid conflicting signals over the prospects of a deal on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about one-fifth of global oil supplies before the war.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that talks between Oman and Iran on the strait were at an advanced stage, with Doha wishing to see the waterway reopened “as soon as possible”.
Tehran has said that it considers its talks with Oman to be separate from the issue of reopening the strait, with Iranian officials insisting it will remain closed until the US agrees to certain conditions, including war reparations and the lifting of sanctions.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed that Washington had total control over the strait, despite maritime traffic remaining at a fraction of pre-war levels.
Just 10 vessels crossed the critical waterway on Monday, according to maritime intelligence firm Windward, compared with roughly 130 daily transits before the war.
In its latest market outlook released on Tuesday, the US Energy Information Administration said it did not expect oil production in the Middle East to return to near pre-conflict levels until early 2027, and for the price of Brent to average $87 a barrel in 2026.
“OPEC crude production can only increase once there is a normalcy in flows in both directions through the Strait of Hormuz,” June Goh, a senior oil market analyst at Sparta Commodities in Singapore, told WTX News.
“Thus, fundamentally, oil prices remain supported at the $85-90 per barrel level barring any new headlines on renewed optimism over the diplomatic talks that have not progressed significantly.”
October 12, 2024
6:18 am
‘Cheer up, you caught the bad guy,’ says killer Virginia McCullough as she is arrested for murdering her parents
A woman who murdered her parents “in cold blood” before hiding them in makeshift tombs for four years told officers to “cheer up, you caught the bad guy” as she was arrested in her home.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her mother Lois McCullough, 71, shortly afterwards in 2019.
She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions until she was finally caught in 2023.
In body-worn video footage released by police, a handcuffed – and eerily calm – McCullough told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually.
“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”
She said she had slipped something into her father’s drink then put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother’s body in an upstairs wardrobe.
McCullough, having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy.”
She added: “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”
At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a “murder weapon”, and a hammer which she said “will still have blood on it”.
McCullough, of Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing at the same court.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Great Baddow in Essex, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks.
The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.
But concerns over Mr and Mrs McCullough’s welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred these to police.
The GP had not seen the couple for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments. It was found McCullough had frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.
Police said a missing persons investigation was initially launched and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.
It became a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house in Pump Hill on September 15 2023, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.
Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address.
“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents’ money and accruing large debts in their name.”
She added: “This was a truly disturbing case, which has left behind it a trail of devastation, and I can only hope that the sentence passed today will help those who loved and cared for Lois and John begin to heal.”
To downplay the genocide, the israelis claim there’s only 20,000 people left in north Gaza, says
@MahaGaza
: the real number exceeds 400,000
Man of the right wing Nigel Farage taking more second jobs and freebie helicopter rides
Gosh he’ll soon be a true blue Tory at this rate
Or far far worse
The cost-of-living crisis is far from over, yet the government’s 50% increase to the bus fare cap is a political choice, adding hundreds to annual costs.
To address hardship & the climate crisis, the government must keep the £2 cap & make public transport accessible for all.
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November 23, 2024
8:25 am
Defense alliance NATO chief Mark Rutte has met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss global security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.
The meeting took place in Palm Beach, Florida.
During his first term as US president, 2017-2020, Trump pushed for European NATO countries to spend more on defense and described the alliance’s cost-sharing as unfair to the US.
Rutte took over as NATO chief from Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg in November.
Before taking office in January, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth for the post of defense secretary, which has raised eyebrows among many allies.
Hegseth, 44, has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no senior military or government officer experience.
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
November 23, 2024
8:17 am
Multiple missiles were fired in an airstrike towards a densely populated part of Lebanon’s capital early on Saturday.
The huge airstrike targeted Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, and no prior warnings were given by the Israeli military. The largely residential area was struck last month.
At least one violent explosion was heard across the city, Reuters witnesses said, and plumes of smoke could be seen. Scenes of massive destruction at the site were shared online, including a massive crater in the ground.
“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in Basta,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
The health ministry put the initial death toll at four, with 23 wounded. The number is expected to climb in the coming hours as search and rescue efforts continue.
It came after a long day of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been non-stop since last week.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group escalated into a full-blown war in mid-September.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region, and has sent ground troops across the border. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel.
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