Oil approaches $100 as shipping risks revive supply fears

Oil climbed toward $100 a barrel, nearing a six-week high as traders put a higher price on the risk that shipments through the Strait of Hormuz could be disrupted. The immediate issue is not simply how much crude exists, but whether it can move reliably: renewed attacks on shipping make cargoes slower, costlier and less predictable to deliver. Stronger buying by Chinese refiners has added a second source of support, lifting demand for physical barrels from producers as far apart as Congo and Brazil. Together, those forces are tightening the market’s outlook and showing how quickly a transport threat can become an energy-price problem well beyond the Gulf.