Another exchange of military attacks involving Iran, the U.S. and Iran sent crude oil prices spiking 5% Monday before they finished down slightly but still with about a 1% gain for the day.
Iran first attacked Israel and Israel responded in kind before President Trump intervened and asked the two countries to halt their attacks. Despite the reported halt, Tehran vowed to resume strikes if Israel continued its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Brent crude finished up $1.16 or 1.3% at $94.25 a barrel.
West Texas Intermediate crude closed the day 76 or 0.8% higher at $91.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Reuters reports Brent has risen around 31% since the eve of the conflict just over 100 days ago, while WTI has risen around 37%. Brent in April touched a peak above $126 a barrel.
Israel hit a petrochemical plant in southwestern Iran that it said was used to produce ballistic missiles, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the country retaliated with a strike aimed at a similar Israeli facility in the city of Haifa.
The exchange followed Israeli strikes on strongholds of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Beirut over the weekend. Tehran has repeatedly said any deal with Washington to end the conflict must include a halt to Israel’s campaign in Lebanon.
Natural gas prices fell on Monday, closing at $3.138 MMBtu with a decline of $0.021 or 2.82%.
About half of the Oklahoma energy stocks finished the day in positive territory and did so with moderate gains. However, Helmerich & Payne managed a strong 4% gain for the day and Mammoth Energy scored a 5% jump for the day. Other firms had moderate losses but Stardust Power fell 3%.
