Oil prices wavered after the U.S. military launched attacks against Iran following the crash of an Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz that President Donald Trump blamed on Tehran.
The latest flaring of fighting again dimmed hopes for progress toward a permanent end to the war, which has lasted more than three months and roiled markets already wavering from spates of heavy selling of stocks in companies linked to the boom in artificial intelligence.
With prospects for fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz in doubt, oil prices resumed their climb after rising and then falling earlier in the day.
Brent crude, the international standard, gained 0.4% to $91.78 per barrel. It was trading at approximately $70 a barrel before the war began in late February.
Benchmark U.S. crude was 0.1% higher at $88.31 per barrel.
“The situation remains highly volatile,” ING commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a Wednesday note. “This once again demonstrates the difficulty Iran and the U.S. face in working toward a sustainable ceasefire that allows for the free flow of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.”
They noted that demand tends to be strong in the early summer, adding to upward pressure on prices.
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