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Crude prices rose Wednesday after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi miitants claimed they had struck a Saudi Arabian tanker in the Red Sea.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 1% at $80.22 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures traded 0.46% higher to $76.12.
The Iranian-aligned Houthis said they hit the tanker with a missile near the coast of Yanbu, a major port for Saudi crude oil exports.
The apparent strike came as the U.S., Iran and Oman hold talks to stabilize the volatile security situation in the Strait of Hormuz. They are negotiating an interim deal in which inbound ships would transit Iran's territorial waters while outbound ships would sail through Oman's waters in coordination with Tehran, two regional sources told Axios.
President Donald Trump told Fox News late Tuesday that the negotations went all day long. "It looks like things are very good," Trump said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC Tuesday morning that a deal to unlock the waterway — a vital transit route for oil, gas, fertilizer and other industrial products — could be reached this week.
The U.S and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17 to open Hormuz, but the deal quickly collapsed as fighting erupted over the route ships take through the strait.
Tehran attacked ships sailing along Oman's coast under U.S. military protection, in an effort to force vessels to transit its territorial waters. Washington retaliated with more than a dozen waves of airstrikes and the reimposition of its naval blockade against Iran.
Oil ended about 6% lower on Tuesday amid hopes of a reopening of the strait. Prices have been edging lower in recent days after Trump called off a planned attack on Iran earlier in the week in favor of fresh negotiations.
