Also, more ships are transiting the Hormuz than the Islamic republic cares to admit: File Image/Pixabay

The continuing battle of wills between the U.S. and Iran, in which the latter reiterated its claim of control over the Strait of Hormuz and the former ruled out extending the now-elapsed 60-day ceasefire, caused oil prices on Wednesday to settle at their highest level in over three weeks.

Brent settled up 15 cents at $91.02 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate settled up 44 cents at $84.94 per barrel, the highest closings since July 24.

However, the relatively tepid daily trading performance was likely the result of more movement through the Hormuz than the Islamic republic would care to admit.

Darrell Fletcher, managing director of commodities at Bannockburn Capital Markets, said, "To some extent, the market has muted movement to the daily headlines just due to the amount of noise since June with no real results.

"Covert or dark shipments slipping from the Strait of Hormuz seem to be more than the market expected ... adding to some buffering from higher prices."

Indeed, Saudi Aramco resumed oil loadings from inside the Strait and offered cargoes for loading via ship-to-ship transfers off Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, and two China shipping giants also started collecting oil cargoes outside the Gulf.

As for the impasse between Washington and Tehran, Mohit Kumar, an economist at Jefferies, said they were not yet at the pain points where either would want to make a deal, "Hence, we see further pain in the near term and upward pressure on oil prices."

In other war-related news on Wednesday, Cornwall Insight reported that United Kingdom household energy bills were set to further rise from October by 4 percent to their highest level since the summer of 2023, having already jumped by 13 percent between July 1 and September 30, 2026.

Also on Wednesday came news that could be a significant blow to the Islamic republic’s dwindling strength: following a botched ballistic missile strike from Iran, the UAE halted all economic ties with its neighbour, including all trade, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions.

The UAE supplied 31 percent of Iran’s imports, valued at roughly $21 billion, in 2024, and was the destination for 13 percent of its exports, according to World Trade Organization trade data.