Brent crude climbed above $89 a barrel on Wednesday as Iran and the United States traded contrasting claims over who controls the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says the waterway stays closed until Washington meets its conditions, while U.S. officials insist regional oil flows have already normalized.
Brent crude oil rose above $89 per barrel in early European trade on Wednesday as traders continued to price in disruption risk around the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent and WTI both push higher
Brent Crude traded up 0.64% at $89.60 in the morning in Europe. WTI Crude rose 0.94% to $83.90 over the same stretch, even as the U.S. maintained that traffic through Hormuz had returned to normal.
Iran said on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed unless the United States ends the war and meets Tehran's conditions, raising the bar for any deal that would restore more traffic through the waterway.
Trump claims control, Iran disputes it
Later on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said the United States had "total control over the Hormuz Strait," a claim that contrasts with Iran's assertion that Tehran decides when and under what terms the strait opens or closes. According to Oilprice.com: "We own it," Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.
The U.S. and Iran appear to remain at a stalemate despite claims of recent talks, according to Wendy Sherman, a former U.S. deputy secretary of state, who told Bloomberg TV that a sustainable reopening would require either voluntary tolls for Iran and Oman or substantial sanctions relief for Tehran.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said on Tuesday that oil flows from the Middle East have normalized, with Sunday traffic alone above pre-conflict averages — a claim that appears not to be backed by ship-tracking data. Traffic at the Strait of Hormuz has declined this week amid heightened security concerns and uncertainty about any further talks.
Source: Oilprice.com
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