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Oil prices extended gains \u200con Monday as tit-for-tat strikes between the US and Iran on vessels sailing in the Strait of Hormuz and other areas heightened concerns of a prolonged supply disruption from the Middle East.<\/strong><\/p>\n Brent crude futures climbed 52 cents, or 0.54%, to $96.80 a \u200bbarrel by 2354 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $92.14 a barrel, up \u200b66 cents, or 0.72%.<\/p>\n Brent rose 7.8% last week while WTI gained nearly 10% after \u2060the US and Iran resumed attacks and caused a reduction in oil flows through the Hormuz strait \u200bwhere a fifth of the world\u2019s oil supply used to transit.<\/p>\n US forces struck three Iranian oil tankers on \u200bSaturday, US Central Command said, including one off the coast of Kharg Island, near Iran\u2019s key oil export hub.<\/p>\n The navy of Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Saturday it targeted three oil tankers that were travelling through unauthorized routes in \u200bthe Strait of Hormuz as well as three additional US vessels in other areas.<\/p>\n The Saturday attacks represented \u200ba \u201cmajor escalation in the maritime conflict\u201d, maritime intelligence firm Marisks said.<\/p>\n \u201cCommercial tankers are now being deliberately used as instruments of \u200creciprocal \u2060economic pressure, substantially weakening the previous distinction between military confrontation and commercial shipping,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n An average of 10 commodity ships transited the Strait of Hormuz per day over the past 10 days, the lowest since May, data from analytics firm Kpler showed on Monday.<\/p>\n A restricted zone will be announced outside the Strait of Hormuz \u200bin coming days, Mohsen Rezaei, \u200bthe secretary of Iran\u2019s \u2060Supreme National Security Council, said on Sunday, according to state media.<\/p>\n OPEC+ kept its oil output policy unchanged for October at a meeting on Sunday, the producer \u200bgroup said in a statement, as it needs to agree new quotas before \u200bdeciding its next \u2060output steps.<\/p>\n A prolonged standoff, punctuated by calibrated military action by the US and Iran, appeared to be the most likely scenario and was likely to delay the path to full recovery of Middle East supply, ANZ analysts \u2060said \u200bin a note.<\/p>\n \u201cWe then expect exports to remain constrained through the \u200brest of 2026, before a gradual reopening late in Q4 2026,\u201d they said, adding that a return to pre-war throughput is not \u200bexpected until late first quarter or early second quarter of 2027.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n