CNBC Daily Open: Brent crude barrels back towards $100

An employee looks out over oil transport pipelines on the Arabian Sea in Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia.Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesHello, this is Leonie Kidd coming to you from London. The "illusion of abundance" is fading, and predictions of a "return to normalization" in the Strait of Hormuz any time soon would be "very, very optimistic." This is the warning from commodity veteran Jeff Currie, as rising tensions in the Middle East send oil prices higher once again. With U.S. investors returning from their long Labor Day weekend, the direction of trade looks set to be determined by the battle for the Strait and any incremental gains that can be made to ease this critical commodity chokepoint. Read on for more.What you need to know todayCrude prices have rallied back to six-week highs, with West Texas Intermediate trading above $93 a barrel and Brent crude oil futures marching back towards the $100 a barrel mark, currently trading over $97 a barrel in early trade on Tuesday. Saudi Aramco oil facilities were hit in fresh attacks on Monday, according to a report by the Financial Times, putting oil markets on edge. The s...