U.S. and Iran trade fresh strikes amid uncertainty over peace talks
Crude oil prices are still below $100 a barrel but renewed hostilities in the Middle East sent them climbing nearly 2% in Wednesday’s trading.
Peace negotiations between Iran and the U.S. are apparently stalled. Adding to the disappointment over the lack of any movement, investors didn’t like the news of a much higher than expected crude inventory in the U.S. Tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to rise amid growing uncertainty over the state and extent of peace talks between the warring parties. The U.S. military on Tuesday said it had fired upon and disabled an unladen oil tanker attempting to sail toward an Iranian port.
West Texas Intermediate finished up 2.4% with a more than $2.50 gain at $96.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude rose 1.9% or a little more than $2 to close at $97.80 a barrel.
U.S. Central Command also said it had successfully repelled multiple Iranian missiles and drones launched at Kuwait and Bahrain, and had conducted self-defense strikes on Qeshm island in response to the attacks. Meanwhile, Iranian state media said the country’s armed forces had targeted the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and a neighboring U.S. base in retaliation for the strike on Qeshm.
The latest military action dented hopes that the U.S. and Iran may be approaching a deal to end their more than three-month old war, even as President Donald Trump stressed that talks between Washington and Tehran were ongoing.
Natural gas prices in the states finished up $0.071 or 2.24% and closed at $3.238 MMBtu.
Wednesday’s trading produced a split between Oklahoma energy stocks with gains and losses.
Empire Petroleum gained 4% for the day but USA Rare Earth dropped nearly 9% in the value of its shares.
