“Oil prices jumped to their highest level in a month on Friday as renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran have caused shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz to slow to nearly a halt,” the New York Times reports.

“The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed about 4 percent, to about $88 a barrel, the highest since early June but still below its peak in April, when oil prices soared above $120.”

“Chevron intends to sign preliminary deals Friday to invest in two Iraqi oil fields and will join a consortium of investors exploring the construction of a pipeline to connect Iraq’s oil patch with the Syrian coast,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Iraq and other Middle East oil producers are scrambling for alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has sought to shut down and put it under its control, triggering a U.S. military response. About 20% of the world’s oil transited the waterway before the Iran war began.”

“The oil market’s top players aren’t waiting around to see who winds up with control over the Strait of Hormuz — countries and companies are scrambling to bypass the waterway,” Axios reports.

“Why it matters: The Iran war threw a spotlight on the strait as the longtime center of the global energy trade, and the industry now has a huge incentive to reduce its dependence, regardless of the war’s outcome.”

“Oil prices continued to climb on Tuesday, hitting their highest levels in a month, as an escalating pattern of strikes and counter strikes between the United States and Iran rattled markets,” the New York Times reports.

“The passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz has been slowed significantly by the persistent cycle of hostility between the United States and Iran. But whether prices at the pump rise or fall will depend not only on how much oil flows out of the Persian Gulf but also on decisions made by China,” the New York Times reports.

“Typically the world’s largest oil importer, China slashed purchases this spring, reducing demand by so much that it prevented oil prices from soaring even higher earlier in the war.”

“Now, one of the biggest questions facing the market is: When will China start buying more oil again?”

“Ukraine is targeting Russian energy infrastructure with its growing fleet of long-range drones and missiles, causing fuel shortages in one of the world’s biggest oil and gas producers and embarrassing President Vladimir Putin,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“In dozens of strikes since this spring, Ukraine has pounded oil refineries across its larger neighbor, hitting all of Russia’s 10 biggest plants, based on capacity figures from S&P Global Energy. More than one-quarter of Russian refining capacity has been knocked offline, analysts estimate.”

“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that most nations aren’t yet ready to purchase Iranian oil, wary over the potential of the US reimposing sanctions, and that this is an incentive for Tehran to negotiate with Washington,” Bloomberg reports.

Said Bessent: “The Iranians thus far have not been able to sell their oil, because the buyers are a little wary of, will it be re-sanctioned. No one other than China, who was already buying it when it was sanctioned, has bought it, so it’s still trading at a discount.”