Crude Oil Pulls Back
Crude oil reversed earlier gains to trade around $97 a barrel on Wednesday, as relatively strong flows through the Strait of Hormuz offset concerns over escalating attacks on shipping and energy infrastructure across the Middle East. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said naval mines had halted three tankers attempting to use routes Tehran considered unauthorized, while the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported a vessel had been struck near Oman. Despite the security risks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said shipments through the chokepoint were approaching prewar levels, while data from Kpler and Vortexa showed broader Middle Eastern exports had risen since the summer. Separately, Yemen’s Houthi militants claimed attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu and the Shaybah oilfield, as well as airports in Riyadh and Abha. Investors awaited US inventory data after the American Petroleum Institute reported a 4.9 million-barrel decline in crude stocks last week.
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Crude oil reversed earlier gains to trade around $97 a barrel on Wednesday, as relatively strong flows through the Strait of Hormuz offset concerns over escalating attacks on shipping and energy infrastructure across the Middle East. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said naval mines had halted three tankers attempting to use routes Tehran considered unauthorized, while the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported a vessel had been struck near Oman.
Despite the security risks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said shipments through the chokepoint were approaching prewar levels, while data from Kpler and Vortexa showed broader Middle Eastern exports had risen since the summer. Separately, Yemen’s Houthi militants claimed attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu and the Shaybah oilfield, as well as airports in Riyadh and Abha. Investors awaited US inventory data after the American Petroleum Institute reported a 4.9 million-barrel decline in crude stocks last week.