crude oil News Updates

Brent crude, the international standard, rose 0.9% to $87.66 a barrel as tensions between the U.S. and Iran kept the Strait of Hormuz largely closed.

Net income and per-share earnings surpassed the prior all-time highs achieved in 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine turned the global energy market on its head. 

Overall profit of $14.7 billion was the largest since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine that upended global markets.

Middle Eastern oil pricing has been a major pinch point during the Iran war. The intermittent disruption to crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz has meant that prices have been hugely volatile.

Shipowners and traders have zeroed in on maritime activity through Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb strait in the Red Sea for signs of how vessels are navigating a shifting security environment.

Brent crude, the international standard, 1.5% to $86.79 per barrel after rising earlier. It was trading around $72 a barrel in late February, before the Iran war began.

U.S. refiners are turning crude oil into gasoline and diesel at a pace not seen since before the pandemic, but even that is unlikely to rein in soaring prices.

Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.2% to $88.03 a barrel. Brent oil’s price had swung as low as $72 early this month and as high as $102 last week.

The Treasury Department announced new penalties on Persian Gulf Marine Insurance and HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority, which it said force commercial vessels to purchase mandatory maritime “insurance” to transit Hormuz. 

The conflict looks set to drag on, possibly for months, with the sides unable to achieve a lasting ceasefire deal, according to officials from the U.S., Iran and Europe.