Hormuz Traffic Grinds to Near-Halt as Oil Prices Remain Steady

Oil prices held steady in early trade on Monday as concerns over supplies intensified due to a sharp drop in vessel movements through the Strait of Hormuz. The slowdown comes after both Brent crude and WTI crude surged more than 5% last week following attacks on tankers operated by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in the strait.

Kpler's shiptracking data showed that only five commodity vessels crossed the strait over the weekend, compared to 31 crossings during the previous weekend. The recorded traffic was still a fraction of the more than 130 vessels that crossed the Strait of Hormuz each day before the US and Israel launched a war on Iran in February.

The United States has said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely, while Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi stated that Washington would need to meet Iran's conditions concerning the strait before shipping could resume. The waterway carried a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the war.