New Delhi, July 20 -- Indian fuel refiners are bracing for tighter supplies and elevated crude oil prices as the escalating US-Iran conflict threatens to disrupt global energy markets once again, less than a month after an interim ceasefire deal, experts said.

Benchmark Brent crude is already at a five-week high, with its September contract on the Intercontinental Exchange ending at $88.10 a barrel on Friday. Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Saturday released a statement to Iranian state media saying the US' "repeated breaches of agreements with Iran show that the US president's signature is worthless and invalid".

Both sides have stepped up attacks. The US Central Command (Centcom) said that it has completed another round of s...