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Bloomberg <\/p>\n Bloomberg <\/p>\n
(Bloomberg) — Brent briefly jumped back above $100 a barrel after the Iran war led to more shipping turmoil in the Middle East and China tightened fuel export curbs to cope with the fallout from the conflict.<\/p>\n
The global oil benchmark surged as much as 10% to $101.59 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate rose to near $96, before paring gains. Two tankers were struck in Iraqi waters and Oman temporarily cleared ships from its key export terminal outside of the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring the widening threats to energy supply and overshadowing a record reserves release by the IEA to try and cool prices.<\/p>\n
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In further signs of strain, Chinese refiners have begun canceling agreed refined fuel export cargoes, including gasoline and diesel. The country\u2019s top processors were told last week to stop signing new contracts, and the latest directive is a step up from the earlier guidance.<\/p>\n
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The crucial Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil typically flows, remains effectively closed and has led to major Gulf producers cutting output. Prices of natural gas and products such as diesel have surged along with crude, with Brent and WTI spiking toward $120 a barrel on Monday before pulling back. The market has been whiplashed by dramatic fluctuations this week.<\/p>\n
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. warned that oil prices could exceed the 2008 peak if flows via Hormuz remain depressed through March, the bank said in a research note updating its price forecasts. Brent rallied to a high of $147.50 a barrel that year on surging demand and stagnating supply.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only thing that\u2019s really going to bring oil prices back down is if we really see the Strait of Hormuz reopen,\u201d Neil Beveridge, director of research at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. The flow rates from strategic reserves are \u201cnothing compared with the 20 million barrels\u201d a day of disruption from the Hormuz closure, he added.<\/p>\n
Iraq halted operations at its oil terminals after the tankers were struck, the director of General Company for Ports Iraq told state media. Oman also evacuated all vessels from Mina Al Fahal as a precautionary measure, said people familiar with the matter. The terminal is one of the few remaining ports through which Middle East crude can be shipped to global markets. Operations there have since returned to normal.<\/p>\n
Iraq was one of the first Persian Gulf producers to start reducing output after the near-closure of Hormuz, followed by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The cuts have forced the International Energy Agency to act with a co-ordinated release of 400 million barrels \u2014 a historic drawdown that is significantly higher than the volume that followed Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n
The US announced it plans to release 172 million barrels as part of the effort by nations around the world to cool prices. Global consumption of crude is slightly more than 100 million barrels a day and Gulf producers have had to reduce roughly 6% of that so far. Cuts in the Middle East could climb further.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what I was concerned about with the IEA release \u2014 completely ignored, and now prices are higher,\u201d said Darrell Fletcher, managing director for commodities at Bannockburn Capital Markets. \u201cIt may have sent the wrong signal. What do they know that we don\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n
WATCH: Oil surged above $100 on the evacuation of ships from an Oman facility and a halt of operations at Iraqi terminals.Source: Bloomberg <\/p>\n
Oil rose on Wednesday on escalating rhetoric. Iran told regional intermediaries that any ceasefire would require the US to guarantee that neither it nor Israel would strike the country in the future. Washington is unlikely to accept those terms, further dimming expectations that the war will end soon.<\/p>\n
In a speech on Wednesday in Kentucky, President Donald Trump repeated that the war would end soon, though he suggested the US would stay as long as it takes to finish its objectives. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to leave early, right?\u201d he told the crowd.<\/p>\n
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