Iran is growing more desperate - "and even more dangerous": analyst: File Image/Pixabay.

More attacks on Saudi Arabia and near the Strait of Hormuz by Iran and its proxies finally provoked a reaction in the trading community and caused oil on Thursday to jump to a five-month high.

Following the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ claim on Wednesday that it struck four vessels involved in “illegal” oil transfers in the northern Gulf, it announced that three more vessels collided with mines west of Hormuz.

This coincided with Iran-backed Houthis hitting several targets in Saudi Arabia: a Saudi oilfield and a civilian airport in Dammam.

As of mid-session Thursday, Brent rose by 3 percent to $112.33 per barrel for first time since 18 May (and into overbought territory for a third time in a week), while West Texas Intermediate climbed by 2.2 percent to $99.29 per barrel.

Brian Sullivan, business analyst at CNBC, noted that with crude moving regardless through the Hormuz and Iran’s key source of revenue (oil) effectively blocked by the U.S., “Iran is going to grow more desperate, which makes Iran even more dangerous.”

Sullivan added that “The markets remain one good or bad headline away from a $10 move in oil in either direction.”

Still, the energy apocalypse feared by many analysts as a result of the U.S./Iran war has not come to pass, Sullivan argued: “All prices are up, and demand is staying relatively consistent; sky-high diesel prices across Europe are going to hit demand, but they have not landed a knockout blow yet.”

Morgan Stanley analysts estimated that Middle East crude exports were around 17 million barrels per day (bpd) last week, compared to about 18 million bpd before the start of the war; also the war has sent refinery margins soaring, and the U.S.’s Valero Energy posted its highest-ever quarterly profit, beating expectations.

In other oil news on Thursday, Russia said it was ready to resume U.S.-mediated talks with Ukraine, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he hoped negotiations would take place early in November.