World oil prices surged Thursday to $125 a barrel, its highest level since March, then dropped as there was a mixture of news from the White House about the war with Iran.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, dropped 3.3% and finally closed the day at $114.08 a barrel.
West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. standard, shed at least $1.80 or about 1.90% and finished at $104.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
An early Thursday Wall Street Journal story that President Trump had instructed aides to prepare for a prolonged naval blockade of Iran’s ports and coastline sent prices soaring in the morning, before they slipped.
Something that didn’t slip was natural gas prices which rose $0.114 or 4.31% to close at $2.761 MMBtu.
Gasoline prices didn’t slip as well. The national average is $4.30 a gallon with a 27-cent spike in the last week. Diesel fuel rose only 2 cents to reach $5.49.
Prices in Oklahoma jumped 30 cents a gallon over the past week, reaching an average of $3.70. Oklahoma City’s average is $3.67 with a 28-cent jump since last week. Tulsa’s average is up to $3.78 following a 41-cent climb.
A slim majority of Oklahoma energy stocks finished in negative territory on Thursday while those with gains saw some astounding increases, one finished up 17%.