Oil prices climbed back above the $100-a-barrel mark as tensions in the Middle East continued to intensify, keeping markets on edge. Brent crude rose 0.51% to $100.80 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 0.43% to $92.77, on Tuesday.The rise, however, was limited as traders weighed signs of possible US-Iran talks against the continuing tensions in the Gulf. Oil prices had fallen recently, so traders who were hoping for a further drop were now cutting those bets as they waited for clearer signs from the diplomatic efforts.The US and Iran traded threats on Sunday, even as US President Donald Trump said that he was open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is expected to travel to New York this week for the UN General Assembly.Meanwhile, Iran has also signalled that it could return to negotiations, with the country conveying conditions to mediators over the weekend for re-engaging in talks, Al Jazeera reported, citing Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei. At the same time, developments elsewhere in the region continued to keep pressure on the oil market.Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said they had carried out attacks on Riyadh and a Saudi Aramco facility in Yanbu. The group has also intensified efforts to cut off Saudi-backed forces from the Red Sea coast.The disruption has also affected the movement of oil through the region. Saudi Aramco has increased exports through the Strait of Hormuz after attacks on its East-West Pipeline forced it to stop some shipments through Yanbu.Tanker tracking data showed that Aramco loaded around 14 million barrels of crude on seven supertankers inside the Gulf on Sunday.As the conflict continues, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has dropped sharply. Only 12 commodity vessels passed through the waterway over the weekend, compared with 35 during the previous weekend, according to shipping data cited by Reuters.The decline came as tensions between the US and Iran continued for over 6 months now, with the two sides remaining in a stalemate.
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