After soaring Monday to hit $119 a barrel, crude oil prices finished down while the military attacks by the U.S., Israel and other middle eastern countries continued against Iran.
Reuters indicated early in the session, Brent soared by $26.81 to $119.50 a barrel, and WTI hit a session high of $119.48. Those were the highest intraday prices for both crude benchmarks since June 2022, comparable with all-time highs of $147.50 a barrel for Brent and $147.27 for WTI in July 2008.
Since the U.S. and Israel bombed Iran on February 28, Brent has surged by as much as 65% and WTI 78%.
By the close of trading, oil prices still managed a 7% increase following the 29% jump during the session. Prices again rose as Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries cut supplies while the war was expanded against Iran. While prices jumped and retreated, the U.S. and other Group of Seven countries considered tapping strategic petroleum reserves.
West Texas Intermediate crude finished up $3.87 or 4.3% to settle at $94.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude closed with a gain of $6.27 or 6.8% at $98.96 a barrel, less than its Sunday close of nearly $105 a barrel. The Monday closes for WTI and Brent were their highest settlement prices since August 2022.
The gain in crude oil prices resulted in another jump for gasoline prices across the U.S. on Monday as they rose 2 cents per gallon from Sunday to reach a new average of $3.47, according to AAA. Diesel fuel across the nation rose 6 cents and reached $4.65 per gallon
Gasoline prices in Oklahoma hit an average of $2.97, an increase of one cent while diesel fuel prices rose 5 cents to reach an average of $4.05. Oklahoma City’s gasoline averaged $3.01, a penny higher than Sunday and its diesel fuel average was $3.99, up 4 cents. The average gasoline price in Tulsa was unchanged at $3 a gallon while diesel fuel went up 6 cents at $4.26 per gallon.
Natural gas finished at $3.062 MMBtu after a decline of $0.124 or 3.89%.
Another split day for Oklahoma energy stocks. While Gulfport Energy slid nearly 7%, USA Rare Earth rose more than 7%.