Investing.com -- Iranian officials have grown increasingly reluctant to discuss reopening the Strait of Hormuz as they focus on surviving ongoing military strikes, according to a Bloomberg report Friday citing people involved in direct, high-level contacts with Tehran.

Energy infrastructure attacks and strikes on Iranian officials, including the recent killing of security chief Ali Larijani, have reportedly slowed attempts to resume commercial shipping through the strait.

Oil prices extended gains sharply on Friday. Brent crude prices were trading above $111 a barrel and the most active US crude futures price climbed more than 2.9% to trade above $98.35 a barrel by 1:45 pm ET.

The escalation means the UK, France and others have lost momentum for their push to escort vessels through the strait once the conflict stops, with no end in sight to the violence.

The sentiment is reportedly shared across Europe and the Middle East. Officials are losing confidence that the US and Israel have an exit plan and see deeper economic disruptions ahead. In Brussels on Thursday, European Union leaders worried about a sustained price shock.

"The real issue now is to assert Europe's position in this increasingly challenging world and to ensure that we can keep pace, both in terms of our defense capabilities and our energy supply," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday. "All of this is only possible with a strong economy."

The assessment is a troubling development for Europe, which is trying to cut energy costs, rebuild its militaries and increase pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine. Those efforts are complicated if the Strait of Hormuz is crippling the economy.

At the outset of the conflict, Iran told regional intermediaries that it was willing to discuss a truce if it had guarantees there will be no further attacks on the country, but such an outcome now seems unrealistic.