The prices of crude oil fell more than 3 per cent on Friday to their lowest levels in nearly two months.
Brent futures were down $3.34, or 3.7 per cent, at $87.04 a barrel by 1035 CDT (1535 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $3.11, or 3.55 per cent, to $84.60. Both contracts were at their lowest prices since April 17.
Reuters reported that Iran on Thursday announced a complete closure of the strait, saying it would fire on any ship trying to pass through the waterway.
Traffic through the strait, which normally carries a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, has been extremely limited as a result of the war, the news agency said.
The U.S. military, however, said on social media that commercial ships continued to transit the waterway.
“We believe the market reaches an inflection point in late July if we do not see oil flows resuming before then. “This is when inventory levels and seasonally stronger demand push prices significantly higher towards $120-130 per barrel,” Reuters quoted ING analysts as saying in a note.
On Thursday, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) lowered its forecast for 2026 world oil demand growth to 970,000 barrels per day from a previous 1.17 million barrels per day (mbpd), its second straight downward revision.
The producer group said oil consumption would eventually rebound. It expects oil demand in 2027 to rise by 1.73 mbpd, up 190,000 bpd from its previous forecast.
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The fall raises more concerns for Nigeria at a time the country faces pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft in its oil-producing region.
On Thursday, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) said it has intensified its crackdown on pipeline vandalism after a high-level joint inspection of a vandalised section of the Nigerian Pipelines & Storage Company (NPSC) crude oil pipeline in Pai Community, Kwali Area Council, FCT.
The chief corporate communications officer of NNPC Ltd, Andy Odeh said the high-level inspection was undertaken to assess the extent of damage to critical national assets, advance ongoing investigations, and reinforce coordinated efforts to combat economic sabotage and safeguard the country’s strategic energy infrastructure.
In 2025, a total of 19 cases were reported with about 9km of pipeline sections stolen along Enugu-Makurdi-Yola and between Piri & Izom along Warri – Kaduna pipeline corridors.
So far in 2026, according to the NNPC, five cases were reported at Piri-Kwali & Gwagwalada, along the Warri-Kaduna crude oil pipeline segment and at Badanga, along the Jos-Gombe pipeline corridor.
