Crude oil prices were on course to book their second week of losses today, after two consecutive days of gains on news from the Middle East.<\/p>\n
At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $95.87 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at $88.49 per barrel. These price levels are a sharp decline from the peaks hit in mid-October, but are still significantly higher than what Brent crude and WTI traded at in February, before the war started.<\/p>\n
Signals about that war remain mixed. There appears to be only a moderate risk of serious escalation, but on the other hand, Iranian attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz continue, and the chances of a peace deal remain remote, after President Donald Trump said<\/a> this week, \u201cWe don\u2019t need a deal with Iran\u201d and that \u201cThose days have long since passed. We\u2019ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we\u2019ve got their Strait!\u201d<\/p>\n The Iranian side may disagree with that, and it seems it is not budging on the conditions it has set for a peace deal. In the meantime, reports from Iranian sources about tankers getting targeted in Hormuz continue. The latest such report is about four vessels that did not comply with Iran\u2019s instructions for crossing the strait and were attacked.<\/p>\n In Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, the Yemeni Houthis continue their attacks, with the latest ones targeting energy sites, including a pumping\u00a0station on the East-West pipeline and a facility in the port city of Yanbu.<\/p>\n