Oil prices rose today, erasing earlier losses after reports of gunfire attacks on at least three container ships in the Strait of Hormuz and a lack of progress in peace talks between the US and Iran.
Brent crude futures were up 73 cents, or 0.7%, at $99.21 a barrel this morning. West Texas Intermediate futures were up 59 cents, or 0.7%, to $90.26. Both benchmarks climbed about 3% yesterday.
At least three container ships were hit by gunfire in the Strait of Hormuz today. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy seized two vessels for what it described as maritime violations and transferred them to Iranian shores, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
Iran and the US have imposed restrictions on ships using the strait, which until the Iran war began at the end of February had carried about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said he would indefinitely extend the ceasefire with Iran, hours before it was due to expire. Neither side showed up for peace talks in Pakistan.
The ceasefire announcement appeared to be unilateral, and it was not immediately clear whether Iran, or US ally Israel, would agree to extend the truce, which began two weeks ago.
In Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the Druzhba pipeline carrying Russian oil was ready to resume operations. Three industry sources, however, said Russia was set to stop oil exports from Kazakhstan to Germany via the pipeline from May 1.