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Business & Economy48 outlets ran this4 min read

Oil prices rise as Iran and US clash over Strait of Hormuz status

Conflicting statements from Tehran and Washington leave shipping routes uncertain after ceasefire expires

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
Oil edges up on uncertainty over exports through Hormuz<br>

What this story says

  • Brent crude futures rose 26 cents to $91.28 on 19 August, while WTI climbed 37 cents to $85.31, as supply uncertainty grew.
  • Iran and the US issued conflicting statements on whether the Strait of Hormuz was open to shipping after a ceasefire expired on 18 August.
  • Iraq’s cabinet approved mechanisms to export crude via alternative routes starting 1 September, avoiding the strait.
  • Two Chinese shipping giants halted oil tanker traffic through Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb amid the conflict.

Who covered it

Left 4%(1)Centre 54%(14)Right 42%(11)

Percentages are shares of the 26 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 22 of the 48 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

70/100

Craft

65/100

Hype

15/100

48 sources · methodology

Missing from the left

Only 1 of the 26 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.

A reader who follows the left would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.

Oil prices rose for a fourth consecutive day on 19 August, driven by uncertainty over exports through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures increased 26 cents to $91.28, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed 37 cents to $85.31. Both contracts reached their highest levels since 24 July.

The rise followed conflicting statements from Iran and the US about the strait’s status. US President Donald Trump said no talks were taking place with Iran and insisted the Strait of Hormuz was open. Iran, however, asserted the waterway remained shut to shipping. A temporary ceasefire agreement expired on 18 August, and Iran shifted to a "fully offensive" military posture, according to a senior Iranian official quoted by Reuters.

Iraq’s cabinet approved new mechanisms to export crude through alternative routes, avoiding the Strait of Hormuz. The contracts, effective from 1 September, will run for three months. Meanwhile, two Chinese shipping companies halted oil tanker traffic through Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb, rerouting cargo collections outside the Gulf.

Disagreement over the strait’s status

The Times of India and Channel News Asia reported that US President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz was open to shipping. The Times of India, The Hindu Business Line, and the Jerusalem Post carried Iran’s assertion that the strait remained shut. The Express Tribune’s digest did not specify which side it reported, stating only that Brent crude futures climbed to $91.71.

What the coverage left out

No left-rated outlet ran this story. None of the digests or reports mentioned the expected fall in US crude stocks by 600,000 barrels for the week ended 14 August, as cited by the Times of India and Channel News Asia. The right-rated digests did not include Iraq’s cabinet approval of alternative export routes or the halt in Chinese tanker traffic.

Tags:#OilPrices#StraitOfHormuz#MiddleEastTensions#IranUSRelations#GlobalShipping

Coverage settled. We checked this 111 times and stopped on 24 Aug 2026, 15:45. The figures above are what it finished at.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Channel News AsiaCentre

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

1 rated outlet

We have not written our reading of the left coverage of this story. The left-rated outlets that ran it are listed below.

Centre

14 rated outlets

  • The six centre-rated digests and reports led on the conflicting statements from Iran and the US over the Strait of Hormuz’s status. All carried the rise in Brent crude futures to $91.28 and the shift in Iran’s military posture. The Jerusalem Post and Asia One included the US claim that no talks were taking place with Iran. The Straits Times and Maritime Reporter noted that six commodity vessels crossed the strait on 18 August, though most shipowners avoided it.
  • Channel News Asia’s full report quoted the senior Iranian official’s statement to Reuters about moving to a "fully offensive" posture. It also included Iraq’s cabinet approval of alternative export routes and the halt in Chinese tanker traffic. WTVB’s digest, citing Reuters, led with the price rise and the conflicting messages from Tehran and Washington.

Right

11 rated outlets

  • The three right-rated digests and reports focused on the uncertainty over Hormuz exports and the rise in oil prices. The Times of India’s full report led with the price increase and the conflicting statements from Iran and the US. It included the expiration of the ceasefire, Iran’s shift to an offensive posture, and Iraq’s approval of alternative export routes. The report also noted that two Chinese shipping giants had stopped sending tankers through Hormuz.
  • The Hindu Business Line’s digest carried Trump’s claim that the strait was open, contradicting Iran’s assertion. The Straits Times’ digest reported that six commodity vessels crossed the strait on 18 August but did not mention the US-Iran statements.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Oil prices rise as Iran and US clash over Strait of Hormuz status?
Of the 26 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 4% are rated left, 54% are rated centre, 42% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 48. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Oil prices rise as Iran and US clash over Strait of Hormuz status left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 26 rated outlets on this story, 4% are rated left, 54% are rated centre, 42% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Oil prices rise as Iran and US clash over Strait of Hormuz status biased?
Oil prices rise as Iran and US clash over Strait of Hormuz status is one event reported by 48 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Oil prices rise as Iran and US clash over Strait of Hormuz status?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Oil prices rise as Iran and US clash over Strait of Hormuz status?
48 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
Why did oil prices rise on 19 August?
Oil prices rose due to uncertainty over exports through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran and the US issued conflicting statements about its status. Brent crude futures climbed 26 cents to $91.28, while WTI rose 37 cents to $85.31, reflecting supply concerns.
What did Iran and the US say about the Strait of Hormuz?
US President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz was open to shipping and no talks were taking place with Iran. Iran asserted the strait remained shut. The conflicting statements followed the expiration of a temporary ceasefire on 18 August.
How is Iraq responding to the Hormuz uncertainty?
Iraq’s cabinet approved mechanisms to export crude via alternative routes, avoiding the Strait of Hormuz. The contracts, effective from 1 September, will run for three months, according to a government statement.
Which outlets reported on this story?
Six centre-rated outlets and three right-rated outlets ran the story. No left-rated outlet covered it. The Times of India and Channel News Asia published full reports, while the rest carried digests.

Read it at the source

61 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

1

Centre

18
Show 10 more

Right

15
Show 7 more

Not rated

27
Show 19 more

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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