Crude oil prices rose after ship was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz

Crude oil prices rebounded nearly 2% Thursday after Iran reportedly attacked a cargo vessel near Oman. The attack raised continued worries the flow of oil out of the Gulf will only be slowed following a memorandum of agreement between the U.S. and Iran.

Global standard Brent crude rose $1.12 or 1.5% and closed at $74.86 a barrel.

West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, finished up $1.22 or 1.7% at $71.56 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The gain in prices came after U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright declared Wednesday that flows of ships through the Strait of Hormuz were close to pre-war levels, then the attack on Thursday occurred as a cargo ship attempted to pass through the Strait.

Meanwhile, some experts predict Middle East fuel oil exports will rebound to a four-month high this month. They could jump by 20% from May to about 508,000 barrels a day in June.

Natural gas prices also finished the day with a gain of more than 2%. They closed at $3.298 MMBtu with an increase of $0.071 or 2.20%.

Oklahoma energy stocks finished mostly with gains on Thursday. Two companies, Helmerich & Payne and LSB Industries, Inc. recorded gains of 4%. A few firms suffered losses including Mammoth Energy Services with an 11% drop for the day.