Brent crude settled at $101.21 a barrel on Wednesday, its first close above $100 since late May, as renewed U.S.-Iran fighting around the Strait of Hormuz intensified concerns about disrupted energy supplies. West Texas Intermediate settled at $96.05, while Brent and WTI recorded their highest closes since May 22. U.S. forces attacked five Iranian crude transport vessels on the 8th, Iran said it launched missiles at a U.S. military base in Jordan and struck 10 ships near Hormuz, and Yemen's Houthi forces targeted Saudi energy facilities. President Donald Trump said oil prices would not fall substantially until after the November midterm elections and said he expected the war to end after the vote. Taiwanese scholar Liang Chi-yuan said U.S. demands to reopen Hormuz and end Iran's nuclear weapons program were incompatible with Iran's position, leaving the conflict in a deadlock. He said alternative transport arrangements, limited futures-market positioning and modest inventory draws pointed to continued high volatility rather than a move above this year's roughly $118 peak. Rystad Energy estimated Hormuz transit volumes had fallen to less than 2 million barrels a day from 8 million to 9 million barrels a day before fighting resumed in late August. U.S. fuel prices also rose, with regular gasoline reaching $4.22 a gallon and diesel climbing to a record $5.94 a gallon, adding pressure on consumers and airlines.