Brent crude rose to $109 per barrel on Monday, the highest in four months, on mounting curbs to supply from the Middle East due to the war in Iran. Saudi Arabia was forced to close its East-West pipeline following attacks from Iraqi territory. The strikes suspended activity in infrastructure that was allocating 7 million barrels per day of Saudi oil to the Red Sea, acting as an alternative to halted shipments through the Persian Gulf due to the Iranian blockade on GCC oil exports. Meanwhile, scheduled talks between the GCC and Iran aimed at conjuring joint efforts to restart oil supply from the region, were postponed by Tehran. The events deepened the prolonged halt of tanker flows from the region that have driven major oil producers to halt their operations, with Saudi output recently dropping to its lowest since 1990. Dwindling stockpiles of oil in China drove the major importer to raise orders in August, while the US SPR stands at a near record low.