Oil prices ticked higher in early trade on Wednesday, climbing for a fourth straight day on supply uncertainty as investors weighed conflicting messages from ​Tehran and Washington on whether the Strait of Hormuz is open ‌to ships.

Brent crude futures climbed 26 cents, or 0.29%, to $91.28 by 0004 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 37 cents to $85.31 a barrel.

Both contracts closed ​on Tuesday at their highest since July 24 as hopes of ​peace between the U.S. and Iran faded.

U.S. President Donald Trump said ⁠on Tuesday no talks were taking place with Iran and insisted the Strait ​of Hormuz was open, contradicting Iran's assertion that the critical waterway remained shut ​to shipping.

A temporary ceasefire agreement expired on Monday, and a senior Iranian official told Reuters that his country was moving due to the diplomatic stalemate, though ​there were no reports of fresh strikes by either side on Tuesday.

To avoid ​the Strait of Hormuz, Iraq's cabinet approved mechanisms for exporting Iraqi crude through specialized international and local ‌companies ⁠and via multiple export outlets, the government said on Tuesday.

The contracts under the new mechanism will run for three months starting September 1, according to a statement issued after the cabinet meeting.

Meanwhile, two Chinese shipping giants have stopped sending oil ​tankers through Hormuz ​and the Bab ⁠al-Mandeb strait amid the conflict in the Middle East and are instead collecting oil cargoes outside the Gulf, according to ​three industry executives, tanker trackers and a ship broker.

In ​the U.S., ⁠crude oil and distillate inventories fell, while gasoline stocks rose last week, market sources said on Tuesday, citing data from the American Petroleum Institute.

Official inventory numbers from ⁠the ​U.S. Energy Information Administration are due at 10:30 ​a.m. ET (1430 GMT), with analysts polled by Reuters expecting crude stocks fell by about 600,000 barrels in the ​week ended August 14.