Oil prices rose on Wednesday during volatile trading after strikes on two vessels heightened concerns about disruptions to Middle Eastern supplies, while talks on ending the war with Iran stalled, Reuters reports, UNN writes.
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Brent futures rose 35 cents, or 0.4%, to $89.26 a barrel by 12:19 GMT (15:19 Kyiv time), heading for a sixth straight day of gains. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 57 cents, or 0.7%, to $83.77, posting gains for a fifth consecutive day.
Both contracts had earlier risen by more than $1 before briefly falling, as attention shifted to U.S. oil inventory data, which industry sources said may have shown an increase.
They resumed their rise after a senior Iranian source told Reuters that there had been no talks between Iran and the United States on extending the ceasefire agreement, since, from Tehran's perspective, the agreement had no start date and therefore there was nothing to extend.
The United States and Iran-linked Yemeni Houthis reported separate attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, two key export routes for Middle Eastern oil and gas, apart from the Suez Canal.
Shipping data showed that the number of vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz fell to a weekly low of eight on Tuesday. Before the war, between 125 and 140 vessels passed through the vital waterway every day.
Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz fell to a weekly low12.08.26, 14:19
Investors' attention was also focused on U.S. oil inventory data due to be released later that day.
Market sources citing data from the American Petroleum Institute said U.S. crude inventories had risen sharply, while gasoline and distillate inventories had fallen.
Oil inventories rose by about 9.1 million barrels, while gasoline and distillate inventories fell by 1.5 million barrels and 596,000 barrels, respectively, compared with the previous week, the sources said.
The increase in oil inventories significantly exceeded expectations and, if confirmed by a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration , could ease market concerns about supply shortages, Haitong Futures said in a note.
In Libya, the country's National Oil Corporation said that all fires in fuel storage tanks at the Zawiya oil complex were under control, also easing upward pressure on prices.
Regarding long-term supplies, the IEA (EIA) expects significant disruptions to Middle Eastern oil supplies to continue through the end of 2027. The EIA said it expects the average price of Brent crude in 2026 to be $86.81 a barrel, and WTI to be $80.88.
Nearly 9 million barrels of oil pass through the Strait of Hormuz every day12.08.26, 02:37