Oil prices traded near $100 a barrel as Wall Street analysts and traders said crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz are recovering toward pre-war levels, delivering much-needed supply to the global oil market.

Brent crude futures for December delivery settled above $98 a barrel, while the November contract, due to expire on Wednesday, pushed past $103.

Although crude prices remain well below their peak during the Iran conflict, they are still above the summer average.

Both JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, two major Wall Street banks, said Middle East crude exports are close to pre-war levels. This followed Saudi Arabia's move to increase crude shipments through a key pipeline to a Red Sea port.

Data from analytics firm Kpler also supports this assessment, and traders and shipowners privately said they are seeing large volumes of crude entering the market through the Strait of Hormuz.

However, Francisco Blanch, head of global commodities research at Bank of America Global Research, said it is unclear whether the increased oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz can be sustained. In an interview, he said: "Is this related to the ongoing U.S.-Iran negotiations? Or has the U.S. taken control of the strait from Iran? If it is the latter, I think we can expect oil shipments to remain at relatively high levels."

The most actively traded Brent December contract rose 1.9% to settle at $98.03 a barrel. The November contract, due to expire on Wednesday, rose 0.9% to settle at $103.53 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate for November delivery rose 1.2% to settle at $90.42 a barrel.