As President Trump’s war deadline with Iran approached Tuesday, oil prices moved lower.
His deadline was an attempt to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump continued to ramp up his threats against Iran, saying that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
“I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” the president added.
The US struck military targets overnight on Iran’s strategic Kharg Island — from which almost all the country’s oil is exported — according to a US official, but did not hit oil facilities.
West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, remained higher than Brent but also fell more than 2% Tuesday, slipping at least $2.79 before closing at $109.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, the global standard, dropped more than 4% or $4.91 a barrel to close at $104.90.
While the closure of the Strait of Hormuz remains a key contention in the war with Iran, a recently published list of countries allowed to cross the Strait of Hormuz, shows at least ten countries friendly to Iran have been allowed through the narrow stretch of water. They include India, China, Thailand, Russia, Pakistan and Iraq.
Gas prices finished up on Tuesday with a gain of $0.039 or 1.3% to close at $2.850 MMBtu.
For most Oklahoma energy stocks, Tuesday was a day of positive territory. But as Mammoth Energy gained about 5%, some firms had rather large losses including Mach Natural Resources with an 11% drop.