Kuwait has raised the official selling price for Kuwait Export Crude to Asia in May to $17 a barrel above the average of Oman/Dubai quotes from a ‌premium of $0.50 in April, a price document reviewed by Reuters showed.

The news came after the US military said it would begin a blockade of maritime traffic through Iranian ports and coastal areas, after weekend talks failed to clinch a deal to ⁠end the Iran war, jeopardising a fragile two-week ceasefire.

The document showed the producer also increased the May Kuwait Super Light crude OSP to $17 a barrel above Oman/Dubai quotes, from a $1.15 premium for April.

Middle East producers have lifted Asia-bound official prices sharply for May, with Saudi Arabia setting the price of its Arab Light crude to Asia at a record premium of $19.50 a barrel to the Oman/Dubai average, and Iraq raising the price ‌for ⁠its Basrah Medium crude to Asia by $17.

Middle East crude has become the priciest globally after the US-Israel war on Iran disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for about a fifth of the world's oil ⁠supplies.

This month Opec+ agreed to raise oil output quotas for May by 206,000 barrels per day, a modest rise that will largely exist on paper ⁠as its key members are unable to raise production due to the Iran war.

The increase comes as analysts expect the hit to ⁠global oil production to flip the oil market into a supply deficit this year, versus pre-conflict estimates of a comfortable oversupply.