Even as Iran made an offer to open the Strait of Hormuz in a venture to end the war with the U.S., crude oil prices finished higher in Monday’s trading.
The continued shuttering of the Strait as well as the U.S. naval blockade along with the President’s cancellation of weekend peace talks in Pakistan sent crude oil prices Monday afternoon up to $108 a barrel.
But prices for Brent, at closing time, rose 2.5% to finish at $101.58 a barrel.
West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. standard, closed up 2.1% or $2.06 a barrel at $96.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil prices rose Monday as President Trump met with top national security officials to talk about the stalemate in talks with Iran. The two key points of contention are the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the naval blockade of Iran’s ports and coastline.
Natural gas prices recorded a slight gain on Monday, finishing at $2.548 MMBtu with an increase of $0.025 or 0.99%.
Most Oklahoma energy stocks made it to positive trading territory at the end of Monday’s trading with only four firms in the negative side. USA Rare Earth rose nearly 8%, the highest percentage gain for any of the local stocks. It was followed closely by Stardust Power at more than 6%.