Goldman Sachs said that Brent crude could rise to more than $120 per barrel by the fourth quarter of the year if disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz persist, but it stressed that this scenario is not its baseline forecast.

The bank's analysts explained in a note issued on July 20 that "the escalation of tensions in the Middle East, and the decline in oil flows from the Arabian Gulf to less than 45 percent of their pre-war levels, have pushed oil prices back up."

Nevertheless, the bank still expects in its baseline scenario that Brent crude will average $80 per barrel in the fourth quarter of the year, before falling to $75 next year, assuming tensions in the Middle East subside.

However, the bank noted that the risks surrounding these forecasts "are tilted to the upside," given the continued navigation disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the possibility of them also extending to the Red Sea.

Global energy markets have experienced sharp volatility this month, with Brent crude exceeding $91 per barrel amid renewed confrontation between the United States and Iran, along with threats by the Iran-backed Houthis to impose a blockade on shipments coming from Saudi Arabia.

The bank noted that shipping routes through the Red Sea have played a pivotal role in delivering Gulf oil shipments to buyers, after the movement of oil exports through the Gulf was disrupted.

It added that the decline in global inventories during the second quarter made the oil market more vulnerable to supply shocks, but that a drop in Chinese oil imports, along with increased flexibility in global demand, could limit the extent of the expected price increase.