Oil made slight gains on expanded U.S. strikes on Iran

Crude oil prices made more gains Thursday after the U.S. continued with its attacks on Iran while a new wrinkle entered the picture—-Israeli threats against Tehran.

Iran claimed 18 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in Tuesday night’s U.S. strikes across Iran and the country’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said three Iranian Army pilots were among those killed in the strikes. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz renewed warnings that Israel would “cripple” Iran’s military and civilian infrastructure, including energy facilities, if Tehran launched attacks against it.

As for the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump claimed 30 to 40 ships a night are making safe passage through the strategic waterway and have not been targeted by Iran.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, finished up 15 cents or 0.16% to close at $95.78 a barrel.

West Texas Intermediate in the U.S. gained 63 cents or 0.69% and finished at $91.64 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Natural gas prices slipped in Thursday’s trading, falling $0.041 or 1.39% at $2.915 MMBtu.

Nearly all but a few Oklahoma energy stocks finished down in Thursday’s trading. Helmerich & Payne fell nearly 6% while Mammoth Energy and NGL Energy Partners dropped about 3%.