Alex Longley

Iranian attacks in the Persian Gulf are striking more ships and causing more severe damage than earlier in the conflict, bringing fresh risks to energy flows from the region.

A key benchmark for Middle East crude fell to its lowest in nearly three months, an indication of the resilience of the region’s exports despite intensifying Iranian attacks on shipping.

At least 23 incidents involving ships attacked in or near Hormuz were logged in the first two weeks of October, with at least five reporting impacts to their engine rooms.

The oil market is suddenly being gripped by a divergence between futures and physical prices, something that’s playing out in two closely watched versions of Brent crude.

In the last couple of weeks, Brent futures — where billions of dollars of contracts change hands every day — climbed about $10 a barrel to a five-month high near $112.

Alex Longley, Shariq Khan and Yongchang Chin / Bloomberg News

Brent oil was trading at the highest level since May as attacks on Saudi Arabia intensified and the war with Iran remained unresolved.

Commodity trader Mercuria Energy Group accused the Baltic Exchange of continuing to publish the world’s benchmark oil tanker rate, despite distortions caused by the Iran war, because it feared losing business to a competitor.

The Iran war has thrown a spotlight on the arcane system used to price the world’s shipping contracts, and the centuries-old London institution that manages it.

Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority said it would take “legal action” against tankers belonging to Sinokor, the world’s biggest oil tanker owner that has carried millions of barrels out of the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks.