Oil prices edged lower on Thursday as investors assessed uncertainty surrounding renewed military strikes between the United States and Iran and their potential impact on Middle East supplies.
اضافة اعلان
Brent crude futures fell 43 cents, or 0.45%, to $95.20 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declined 24 cents, or 0.26%, to $90.77 a barrel.
The latest attacks marked the largest exchange of fire between the United States and Iran since July, as the war entered its seventh month.
Brent and U.S. crude prices fluctuated between gains of as much as $2 a barrel and losses of up to $1 a barrel during the previous trading session. Both benchmarks reached their highest levels since July 24.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the renewed U.S. campaign against Iran would not continue for “too long” and that U.S. forces had targeted Iranian radar and missile systems.
“We destroyed all the new equipment they tried to build near the Strait of Hormuz, some of it defensive and some offensive,” Trump said. “It was a very violent attack last night, and we are ready to launch another attack whenever we want.”
Preliminary shipping data from Kpler on Wednesday showed that four commodity-carrying vessels had passed through the Strait of Hormuz, well below the 10-day average of around 13 vessels.
Iran also added more vessels to a list of ships it considers non-compliant with its directives, leaving them potentially subject to fines, seizure or detention if they attempt to transit the strait.
The United States said Tuesday that 17 million barrels of oil had passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, describing it as the largest volume of crude to transit the waterway since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
