Oil futures resume trading on Sunday at 6pm Eastern after reported attacks on commercial ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz passed 30 in October, the highest monthly total since the US-Iran war began, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations data. US crude settled on Friday at $102.95 a barrel, up 0.9% on the day, while Brent, the international benchmark, was reported at $117 a barrel in Asian trade.

In the latest attack, an unknown projectile struck the Marshall Islands-flagged LNG tanker AL MAYEDA about 40 nautical miles off Iran's Lavan Island on Friday evening, starting a fire aboard; the crew was reported safe. Saudi air defences downed eight missiles and drones since early Friday as a Houthi barrage reached the oil-rich Eastern Region, and the US Central Command said 144 commercial vessels have been redirected to enforce compliance with the American blockade of Iranian ports. Commercial traffic through the strait has run well below pre-war levels, according to the latest Joint Maritime Information Center advisory.

What traders will watch on Sunday

The Sunday reopen will be the first market test of a week in which Hormuz attacks, the Qatar-mediated reopening proposal and the US midterm elections all collide. A further escalation in the strait would be expected to keep war-risk and freight costs elevated and to support crude prices, while any sign of progress on reopening could ease them. For now, the numbers tell a stark story: more than 30 reported attacks in a single month, a tanker on fire off Lavan Island, and a strait whose traffic remains far below normal despite crude still finding its way out by escort, dark tankers and pipeline.