Oil rebounded on latest Iranian threat of attacks

Crude oil prices made a slight rebound in Wednesday’s trading but only after Iran made more threats to attack energy facilities throughout the Middle East unless its security was guaranteed while waiting for the U.S. to official respond to a Tehran plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

So far, President Trump has dismissed the plan in which Tehran proposed reopening the strait while restarting nuclear talks in a week. Iran wants the U.S. to lift its naval blockade of ships and to remove sanctions on oil sales. As it awaits a potential official answer to its proposal, the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) published a letter to American voters on September 29, where it blamed the United States for starting the war on February 28, while adding that the two countries could coexist if U.S. policy changed.

West Texas Intermediate crude rose about $1.21 or 1.35% to close at $89.38 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, settled at $98.12 with a gain of not quite $2 or 2.05%.

Natural gas also made gains for the day, closing at $3.015 MMBtu with a boost of $0.004 or 0.13%.

Wednesday resulted in a split for Oklahoma energy stocks. Empire Petroleum had a big day with a nearly 10% gain.

Alliance Resource Partners LP