By Nora Redmond
The United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah oil trading hub was struck by drones on Saturday and on Monday.
Oil futures rose on Monday as the conflict in Iran entered into its third week with no let-up in attacks on vital sites.
Brent crude (BRN00) (BRNK26) climbed 87 cents to $104.01 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate contracts (CL.1) (CLJ26) fell 55 cents to $98.13, having earlier risen as high as $102.57.
The lead Brent contract covers May, while the front-month WTI contract covers April.
It comes after the U.S. struck Kharg Island, which provides about 90% of Iran’s oil production, on Friday night and President Donald Trump urged allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump told NBC News on Saturday that U.S. strikes had “totally demolished” the oil hub and warned of attacking it “a few more times just for fun.” The U.S. Central Command said the forces had struck “more than 90 Iranian military targets on Kharg Island, while preserving the oil infrastructure.”
It also comes following a drone attack on the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah oil trading hub on Saturday, with another on Monday. Reuters reported that oil operations at the hub have been suspended as a result of the strikes. Last year, it exported about 1.7 million barrels per day of crude oil and refined fuels, according to Reuters.
The president has ramped up pressure on allies to help to protect the strait, which has effectively been closed by Iran, with its new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, warning on Thursday that it will remain shut and the that Islamic Republic will continue to target U.S. military bases across the Gulf.
Trump told the Financial Times in an interview: “It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there. If there’s no response or if it’s a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of Nato.”
Analysts at UBS, led by Henri Patricot, wrote in a note on Monday that Brent crude prices will feasibly rise more in the coming weeks as supplies continue to be disrupted by the conflict. They wrote that oil could keep climbing to $120 a barrel by the end of March if flows from the strait are not improved before jumping upwards of $150 in the second quarter.
-Nora Redmond
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03-16-26 0632ET
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