Iran’s denial sent crude oil prices climbing

A sharp denial by Iran that it was negotiating with Washington sent crude oil prices upward on Wednesday as they rose nearly 3% by mid-day.

The denial meant analysts and investors felt there was no near-term end to the war. The gains came as Saudi Arabia reported October output near pre-war levels. Since the start of November, Brent had lost about 21% and WTI about 17% on bets that the war was winding down.

Brent futures rose 3% earlier in the day then settled $1.27, or 1.39%, higher at $92.76, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 49 cents, or 0.57%, to $86.53 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Natural gas prices rose too, settling up $0.053 or 1.61% at $3.243 MMBtu.

Wednesday produced another strong day for Oklahoma energy stocks. Devon Energy and USA Rare Earth recorded 4% gains. But Empire Energy suffered a 4% drop for the day.

Alliance Resource Partners LP