Meanwhile, passage through the Hormuz continues to decline: File Image/Pixabay.

Oil on Wednesday topped $100 per barrel after the U.S. destroyed  10 Iranian tankers and warded off counterstrikes on two U.S. navy destroyers, while Iran-backed Houthis claimed that Saudi-backed forces launched 32 airstrikes across Yemen overnight.

Brent settled up $3.29 at $101.21 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate settled up $3.02 at $96.05 per barrel; the last time Brent settled above $100 was for a single day in late July.

Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said, "The move towards and back above $100 Brent is reflecting a market that increasingly has to change its view on how long the Middle East crisis will continue to curb supply from the region."

Dennis Kissler, senior vice president ⁠of energy trading at BOK Financial, added, "The near-term fundamentals have suddenly turned to much tighter supplies, and the back and forth strikes from the U.S. and Iran look to now be a mainstay, with any chance of a peace agreement moving further out in the distance."

As for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, Kpler reported that six commodity vessels made the journey on Tuesday, down from nine a day earlier and below the 10-day average of about 12.

Hamad Hussain, senior climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics, stated, "The key risk is whether the recent attacks on oil tankers lead to fewer ship-to-ship transfers taking place in the Gulf of Oman, which have so far played a key role in providing oil to global markets and keeping a lid on prices."

Bloomberg pointed out that jet fuel has become so expensive that many airlines have cut flights while raising fares and fees; “And more expensive oil could drive up costs for a long list of petroleum-derived products, from clothes to crayons — as well as natural gas needed for making chemical fertilizer, which is facing an additional supply squeeze from the war.”

The Bank of America noted that helping to boost global gas and diesel prices this week were additional refinery outages in Russia, reduced refining activity elsewhere, and sharply declining inventories in general.

That included crude inventories in the U.S., which fell 300,000 barrels in the week ending September 4, according to the American Petroleum Institute.

However, the decline was minimal compared to the 2.6 million barrel fall incurred the week prior.