Just as the world hoped there would be renewed peace talks between the US and Iran, gunfire at the Strait of Hormuz sent crude oil prices reaching above the $100 a barrel mark on Wednesday.
Prices rose by more than $3 after Iran attacked at least three container ships in the Strait. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy seized two vessels for what it described as maritime violations and transferred them to Iranian shores, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. It was something of a “tit-for-tat” as Iran responded to the US naval blockade on the Strait.
As a result, Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose $3.43 or 3.48% to close at $101.91 a barrel.
West Texas Intermediate crude, considered the US benchmark did the same. It rose $3.29 or 3.67% and finished at $92.96 a barrel in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
What surprised observers was an unexpected draw n the amount of gasoline and distillate inventories in the US in the past week. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported crude inventories rose 1.9 million to reach 465.7 million barrels but gasoline supplies fell 4.6 million barrels to 228.4 million barrels.
Natural gas prices also finished the day higher, settling at $2.709 MMBtu with a gain of $0.012 or 0.44%.
By a large margin, more Oklahoma energy stocks scored gains than those that suffered losses in Wednesday’s trading.
USA Rare Earth shot up more than 11% while Stardust Power gained 8% for the day.