Brent Lost 10.9% on the Week Despite Strike on Hormuz Tanker

Brent crude fell 10.86 percent on the week and closed Friday, June 26, at $71.99 per barrel, its lowest level since February, according to Reuters data. The collapse came despite a projectile strike on the tanker Ever Lovely in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday the 25th.

The Ever Lovely, operated by a subsidiary of Taiwan's Evergreen, was struck on the starboard bridge wing at 3.6 nautical miles from Khwar Naiwah, Oman, according to El Financiero. The vessel reported no casualties or environmental damage and exited the strait unassisted. The attack prompted the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to suspend its voluntary evacuation scheme for stranded vessels, which had been in place since February.

The Strait of Hormuz channels roughly 20 percent of global seaborne crude supply and a similar share of liquefied natural gas (LNG). For Mexico, which imports refined fuels indexed to Brent, each day of disruption at Hormuz adds between $1.50 and $2 per barrel to the reference price, raising import costs for gasoline and diesel directly.

Despite the attack, tanker traffic through Hormuz did not halt. Saudi Aramco resumed shipments at its Ras Tanura terminal after nearly four months of suspension, with two VLCCs (each capable of carrying two million barrels) now operational, according to Reuters. Analyst Tamas Varga of PVM noted that the prevailing market view is one of imminent oversupply.

Brent had rallied 2.1 percent on Thursday the 25th after news of the attack broke, touching an intraday high near $76 per barrel. On Friday the 26th, it reversed those gains with a 4.34 percent drop. Brent's futures curve shifted into its steepest contango since 2023, a classic signal of near-term supply abundance.

Markets are now watching whether the 60-day U.S.-Iran ceasefire allows Hormuz traffic to keep growing. Commerzbank warned that if transit volumes do not rise sharply next week, skepticism is likely to reassert upward pressure on prices. Every Brent fluctuation feeds directly into Mexico's fuel import costs.

This article was produced with AI assistance from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.