Daijiworld Media Network - New York

New York, Aug 10: Oil prices rose on Monday amid uncertainty over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran said an agreement with Oman on new shipping lanes was in its final stages but insisted that the United States must meet additional conditions.

Brent crude futures rose 91 cents, or 1.09 per cent, to USD 84.46 a barrel by 0056 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 61 cents, or 0.78 per cent, to USD 78.79 a barrel.

Both benchmarks had fallen more than 7 per cent last week on hopes that Iran and Oman were close to reaching an agreement that would allow the Strait of Hormuz to reopen. The strategic waterway carried about one-fifth of the world's oil supplies before the war.

Iran said on Sunday that an agreement with Oman was in its "final stages", but reiterated that the waterway would reopen only after Washington met additional conditions, including compensation to Iran for widespread attacks.

"Traders have been conditioned by the on-again, off-again nature of the negotiations and are waiting for tangible evidence, such as verified tanker movements or formal agreements, before further unwinding the risk premium," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that Iran and the US were not engaged in negotiations and that Tehran would not initiate talks as long as Washington continued to breach an interim agreement signed in June.

Concerns over oil supplies increased further after a Saudi oil facility was attacked over the weekend.

The Iran-aligned Houthis claimed they had struck Saudi Aramco's Jazan refinery on Sunday, two days after Saudi Arabia signed a defence pact with Turkey and Pakistan in response to growing regional instability stemming from the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Separately, the United Arab Emirates' ADNOC said on Friday that 15 of its vessels had been attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz since the beginning of the conflict.