Oil prices fell more than 3% on Tuesday to a one-week low, as traders shrugged off the latest U.S. sanctions campaign against Iran, viewing economic pressure as less threatening to oil supplies than military escalation, UNN writes, citing Reuters.
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Brent crude futures fell by $3.07, or 3.33%, to $89.10 per barrel by 13:07 GMT (16:07 Kyiv time), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell by $2.93, or 3.45%, to $82.08.
Both benchmarks reached their lowest levels since August 17.
The shift from military conflict to economic pressure in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has reduced some anxiety in the oil market, said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, adding that the announcement of U.S. sanctions turned out to be less decisive than some traders had expected.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled the measures on Monday, nearly six months after the start of the conflict that the United States is seeking to resolve. However, he declined to name the countries that would be targeted by the sanctions or say when they would take effect, adding that he would give them time to comply with the new directives.
Iran promised to respond to the sanctions and expressed confidence that its major trading partners would resist Washington's pressure campaign.
Although U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday that the United States had not ruled out using military force against Iran, analysts noted that the shift to economic coercion had eased some concerns about further threats to Middle Eastern oil supplies, even though the key Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed.
"Iran still retains the ability to respond by disrupting shipping, which continues to support a residual premium in oil prices," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM.
On Tuesday, an oil tanker was struck by an unknown projectile and disabled approximately nine nautical miles (16.7 km) northeast of Ash-Shishah in Oman, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said.
Only two tankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, the lowest daily figure since early May, with both entering the Persian Gulf, shipping data showed.
The conflict has heightened concerns about the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which, before the war between the United States and Israel and Iran began on February 28, approximately one-fifth of the world's oil consumption normally passed, raising fears of broader supply disruptions.
Supply disruptions have prompted countries to draw down commercial and strategic oil reserves.
Elsewhere, the publication writes, an oil refinery in Novoshakhtinsk in Russia's southern Rostov region was damaged by a drone overnight and suspended operations, according to the regional governor, while a fire broke out on Tuesday at the Atyrau oil refinery in western Kazakhstan, the owner, KazMunayGas, said.
A fire broke out at one of Kazakhstan’s largest oil refineries25.08.26, 13:59