MUSCAT: The official price of Omani crude oil for May delivery rose sharply to $147.79 per barrel on Monday, marking an increase of $3.43 from last Friday’s price of $144.36.

The rise comes amidst heightened volatility in global energy markets as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continue to disrupt oil production and shipping routes.

Despite the latest surge, the average price of Omani crude for March delivery stood at $62.17 per barrel, up slightly by 8 cents compared with the February delivery average.

International oil benchmarks also moved higher on Monday as the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran intensified concerns over supply disruptions in the region.

Brent crude futures climbed $2.30, or 2.2 per cent, to $103.44 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose $1.29, or 1.3 per cent, to $96.40 per barrel by 09:03 GMT.

Both benchmarks have surged by more than 40 per cent this month, reaching their highest levels since 2022. The spike follows attacks targeting Iran, which prompted Tehran to halt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally pass.

Further tightening market sentiment, oil-loading operations at the UAE’s Fujairah port were suspended on Monday after a drone strike ignited a fire in the emirate’s petroleum industrial zone, according to two sources cited by Reuters.

Fujairah — located outside the Strait of Hormuz — handles about one million barrels per day of the UAE’s Murban crude, equivalent to roughly 1 per cent of global oil demand.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) warned last week that the conflict is creating the largest oil supply disruption in history, as major producers including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the UAE have curtailed output amidst escalating security risks.

Market analysts say the impact of disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz has already been significant.

“Investors appear to recognise that if just two weeks of disruption at the Strait of Hormuz have inflicted this level of damage on production, exports and refining, the consequences of a prolonged conflict would be severe”, said Tamas Varga, analyst at PVM, noting that global inventories are also being steadily drawn down.

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