Oil tankers are increasingly coming under fire on several fronts as economic warfare is deployed as a weapon in the escalating conflicts in the Middle East and Europe.
Iran has stepped up its attacks on tankers in and around the Strait of Hormuz this month as it tries to impose its control over the crucial oil corridor. Tehran's Houthi allies in Yemen opened a second front this week, firing on two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea after declaring a maritime embargo against Riyadh.
Ukraine, meanwhile, says it has attacked more than 150 tankers, cargo ships, and other vessels associated with Russia's shadow fleet in the Sea of Azov and Black Sea.
The oil market is now dealing with wars on multiple fronts, Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy, told CNBC's "Power Lunch" on Thursday. Oil prices have surged more than 30% in July with Brent crude breaking $100 per barrel on Thursday for the first time since May, as the security situation has rapidly deteriorated in the southern Red Sea and Hormuz.
Ship traffic through Hormuz has plunged after rebounding in the weeks following the memorandum of understanding signed by the U.S. and Iran on June 17 to reopen the strait.
Some 61 commercial ships have been attacked in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and Gulf of Oman since March 1, resulting in the deaths of at least 17 seafarers and dozens of injuries, according to the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency.
At least a dozen tankers have been struck this month in and around Hormuz, killing at least two seafarers, as fighting sharply escalates between the U.S. and Iran, according to the IMO data.
The Red Sea attacks now threaten millions of barrels per day of oil that the Saudis redirected through a pipeline to its western coast amid the security situation in Hormuz.
The Saudis can redirect some oil through a pipeline that stretches from a port on the Red Sea across Egypt to the Mediterranean but the logistics are complex.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium has stopped loading tankers at the Russian port of Novorossiysk due to attacks on vessels. Kazakhstan exports about 80% of its crude oil through that pipeline.
Ukraine has also pounded Russian refineries, resulting in more than 50% of the country's capacity coming offline.
