After two days of gains, crude oil prices slipped in Thursday’s trading, mostly because of an anticipated halt in rocket and missile attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militia on ships in the Red Sea.
As Reuters reported, maritime security officials said they were expecting the Houthi militia to announce a halt in its attacks on ships in the Red Sea, after a ceasefire deal in the war in Gaza between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas.
West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, fell $1.36 or 1.7% to $78.68 a barrel after climbing above the $80 mark for a 3.3% gain on Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Global standard, Brent crude, dropped 74 cents or 0.9% at $81.29 a barrel. It had risen 2.6% in Wednesday’s trading reaching the highest price since late July.
Natural gas prices finished up 17 cents for a 4.29% gain at $4.26.
Oklahoma energy stocks finished split on Thursday. Matrix Service had the largest gain at nearly 7% while the biggest loss, more than 4%, was incurred by Canoo Inc.