Iran Says It Hit 10 Ships Near Hormuz

• One seafarer was killed and another was listed as missing aboard the oil products tanker Hercules Star at anchorage off Dubai, according to the vessel's charterer, Peninsula. Maritime security sources said it may have been hit by a drone.
• The British maritime security agency UKMTO described a vessel in the vicinity that was listing and possibly taking on water after being struck by a projectile. Reuters said it could not immediately determine whether that referred to the same ship.
• Two Iraqi port officials said the tanker New Andros, carrying 2 million barrels of fuel oil, caught fire after being struck by a drone in Iraqi waters. There were no reports of casualties among its 22 crew.
• A maritime security source reported a liquefied natural gas tanker was damaged at the Emirati port of Khor Fakkan.
• UKMTO said it had received reports of several merchant ships struck by disabling fire in the northern Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on either side of the strait.

Washington has announced a policy of attacking Iranian tankers in retaliation for fire that threatens its warships, and says it has hit 10 so far over the past week, according to France 24.

No source reports that Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz. France 24 reported that traffic has been badly degraded: Claudio Galimberti, chief economist at the consultancy Rystad Energy, said flows through Hormuz had fallen back as low as 2 million barrels per day, after reaching 8 million to 9 million bpd in the week before fighting resumed on Aug. 30. The strait carried a fifth of world oil supplies before the war.

Prices

Benchmark Brent crude futures breached $100 a barrel for the first time since July. The average U.S. retail price of diesel hit a fresh all-time high above $5.94 a gallon on Wednesday, France 24 reported. Reuters reported most major Gulf stock markets fell in early trade Thursday as escalating U.S.-Iran hostilities fueled concern about disruption to regional energy corridors.

Fighting has also escalated between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthis. The Houthis attacked four Saudi cities on Tuesday, causing fires at oil installations that were visible from space; Saudi authorities said 73 people were wounded.