Iran continued denying talks with the U.S., sending waves of missiles into Israel and the disruption of Monday’s fall in crude oil prices caused an upswing Tuesday. Oklahoma energy stocks made strong gains too.
President Trump continued to profess the talks were making gains but crude oil prices rose nearly 5%.
Prices closes before Iran made a late-afternoon announcement saying it told countries that belong to the International Maritime Organization that “non-hostile vessels” can transmit the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reported. It’s a significant development given that 20 million barrels of oil pass through the strait each day.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, gained $4.55 or 4.55% to settle back above $100 a barrel at $104.49.
West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. standard of oil prices, rose $.22 or 4.79% to close at $92.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Shipments of oil tankers remained halted through the Strait of Hormuz and the International Energy Agency labeled it the biggest-ever oil supply disruption.
“The reality on the ground is unchanged,” said Nikos Tzabouras, analyst at Jefferies-owned Tradu.com, according to Reuters.
“The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed and supply disruptions linger, tightening the market.”
At the same time, China called the escalating Strait of Hormuz crisis an “uncontrollable situation” and urged all sides to halt military operations which threaten global energy supplies.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing on March 23 that the ongoing conflict and the situation around Hormuz has threatened global energy security as well as China’s oil supplies and the “use of force will only lead to a vicious cycle.”
The oil crisis resulted in a slight increase in U.S. gasoline and diesel fuel prices since Monday, reported AAA. It cited the national gasoline average was $3.97, up 2 cents from Monday while diesel fuel averaged $5.34 per gallon, up 6 cents.
Oklahoma’s average went up a penny to reach $3.26 per gallon while diesel fuel rose 3 cents for an average price of $4.50 per gallon.
Prices in Tulsa and Oklahoma City remained unchanged….$3.28 in Tulsa and $3.22 in Oklahoma City. Diesel fuel averaged $4.40 in Oklahoma City with a 2-cent gain in one day. Tulsa remained at $4.70 per gallon.
Natural gas prices also reacted with a gain on Tuesday, settling at $2.931 MMBtu with an increase of $0.040 or 1.38%.
If it had anything to do with oil and gas among Oklahoma energy stocks, it recorded some strong gains on Tuesday. All but three of our firms followed daily recorded increases including 8% boosts for Mammoth Energy Services and NGL Energy Partners.