Oil held gains near the highest level in over three months after another Houthi strike on a commercial ship in the Red Sea, with tensions in the key region for crude production and trade continuing to simmer.
Most Read from Bloomberg
West Texas Intermediate futures were little changed near $79 a barrel from Friday’s close. Brent settled above $83 on Monday. The crew of the Rubymar abandoned the vessel after the attack Sunday evening, the first such evacuation since the Yemen-based group started targeting ships late last year.
Oil has been trapped in a tight $10-a-barrel range since the start of the year as competing bullish and bearish factors lead to a decline in volatility. Signs of poor demand — most notably from top importer China — has been countered by geopolitical tensions and efforts by OPEC+ to trim output.
Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, pledged to improve its compliance with output cuts after the nation completes a review of external estimate of its production, according to its oil minister.
To get Bloomberg’s Energy Daily newsletter into your inbox, click here.