By Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Oil rebounded after the first drop in almost a week, as Iran pressed on with attacks on energy infrastructure around the Middle East and Israel said it killed senior Iranian officials.

Brent climbed above $104 a barrel, after slipping almost 3% on Monday, while West Texas Intermediate was around $97. Operations were suspended at the Shah gas field in the United Arab Emirates, while an Iraqi oil field was also targeted by drones and missiles. Crude loadings from the UAE’s port at Fujairah were again halted, according to a note from Inchcape Shipping Services.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Two LPG Ships Sail Through Hormuz to Shortage-Hit India

• Second Dynacom Oil Tanker Passes Hormuz as Other Owners Hold Back

• Modi Walks Fine Line Between Iran and US as War Hits Economy

The strikes further hampered the outlook for global energy supplies as the war enters its third week, with a near-complete halt of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz starting to impact consumers, especially in Asia.

Oil has risen more than 40% since the war started, but prices declined on Monday as the US prepared to release the first tranche of emergency crude reserves. Israel on Tuesday said it killed senior Iranian officials, including the country’s security chief Ali Larijani. Iran hasn’t confirmed the claim.

“There is a push and a pull constantly dragging the market higher and lower,” Rebecca Babin, a senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC, told Bloomberg TV. “This is a market with about 100 stories running at once that’s frantically trying to determine how much supply is off the market.”

When asked in the Oval Office if the war could end this week, President Donald Trump says “I don’t think so, but it’ll be soon.”

US President Donald Trump threatened to expand strikes on Kharg Island to target oil infrastructure after last weekend sparing energy assets on the key Iranian export hub. He also said Washington is “hammering” Tehran’s capacity to threaten commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and reiterated his appeals for help from other nations to secure passage.

Washington is letting Iran continue shipping crude via the waterway, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC. He also said that the US hasn’t intervened in energy derivatives markets.

In the Middle East, the UAE and Kuwait have both reduced oil output further. Saudi Arabia is racing to boost exports through an alternative route that bypasses Hormuz.

Transit through the strait is likely to become “increasingly conditional,” with Iran permitting passage for some vessels depending on their affiliation, JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts, including Natasha Kaneva said in a note. A series of vessels have made their way out of Hormmuz using a route that hugs unusually close to Iran’s coast, according to ship-tracking data compliled by Bloomberg.

The number of Iranian ships crossing the waterway jumped to a wartime high on Monday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That included an oil tanker headed for China.

“Iran is looking to escalate and really squeeze the conflict,” Emily Ashford, head of energy research at Standard Chartered, said in a Blooomberg TV intervew. “It’s trying to give a deterrence for this to happen again by showing that it can push prices significantly higher.”

--With assistance from Charles Gorrivan.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• We Kinda Messed Up Our Retirement

• Small Businesses Are Pushing Back Against Private Equity

• ‘God, It’s Terrifying’: How the Pentagon Got Hooked on AI War Machines

• Let’s Talk About Trump’s Shoe Thing