US heating oil tops $4.3 per gallon as Middle East conflict disrupts supply
Heating oil and crude rallied on shipping risks in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz, though some tanker movements resumed as U.S.-Iran hostilities, Russian outages and lower U.S. inventories kept supply concerns elevated.
US heating oil futures fell below $4.10 per gallon in late July after earlier climbing above $4.3 per gallon to a nearly four-month high, while crude rose above $85 a barrel and posted a monthly gain of more than 20%. Markets were driven by escalating Middle East supply risks, including reported tanker disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, Houthi threats in the Red Sea, and broader U.S.-Iran hostilities, though some shipping activity continued or resumed. Supply concerns were compounded by constrained Russian refining and diesel exports after Ukrainian attacks, including a strike on the Volgograd refinery, as well as declining U.S. crude inventories.
- Strait of Hormuz: A critical maritime chokepoint for global crude shipments from the Persian Gulf.
- Bab el-Mandeb Strait: A narrow shipping chokepoint linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and a key route for oil and fuel cargoes.
- Kpler: A firm that tracks commodity shipments and tanker movements.