Oil prices opened Thursday’s trading session higher and remained volatile throughout the day, fluctuating between gains and losses amid growing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, following a new exchange of air strikes between Iran and the United States in the strategic Persian Gulf region.
This morning, Brent crude — the benchmark for Angolan exports — was up by 2.4 USD, equivalent to 2.52%, trading at 96.8 dollars per barrel near 09:00 in Luanda. Meanwhile, the August contract, the most liquid on the market, rose by 2.6 USD, or 2.7%, to 94.7 USD per barrel. In the United States, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 2.2 USD, corresponding to 2.5%, reaching 90.9 USD.
The recovery in prices comes after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced an attack on a US air base, in response to earlier American bombings in the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, a strategic area near the Strait of Hormuz.
In the previous session, oil markets had recorded losses of more than 5%, pressured by expectations of a possible diplomatic understanding between Washington and Tehran that could reduce the risk of disruptions to global supply and guarantee the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a corridor through which around one fifth of the world’s oil passes.
Source: Expansão
