President Trump drew his own line in the sand this week in nuclear talks with Iran and promised “bad things” would happen if an agreement wasn’t reached in the next 10 days. As a result, crude oil prices rose 2% and settled at their highest mark in six months.
Both Iran and the U.S. have increased military activity in the oil-rich Middle East.
Global benchmark Brent crude rose $1.31 or 1.9% to settle at $71.66 a barrel.
US standard, West Texas Intermediate crude finished up $1.24 or 1.9% at $66.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Both Brent and WTI advanced more than 4% on Wednesday and ended with Brent at its highest since July 31 and WTI at its zenith since August 1.
Natural gas prices slipped again, this time under $3 MMBtu. Closing was $2.985 MMBtu after a fall of $0.026 or 0.86%.
Thursday was another strong day for Oklahoma energy stocks as all but a few recorded gains. Only two firms experienced losses while a third had no change. The strongest percentage gain of 4% was recorded by Gulfport Energy. Others were in the 1% and 2% range.