The price of Brent oil reached $106.32 in trading on Wednesday, indicating an increase of 63 cents or 0.6 percent compared to the previous day. Additionally, West Texas Intermediate crude oil was also traded at $94.80 per barrel, up 66 cents.
Price Increases and Their Reasons
Both oil benchmarks experienced an increase of over a dollar in the early hours of trading, but part of this gain was gradually lost. This price increase has been reported following the targeting of two ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials have not provided details on this matter, but one of them stated that Iran began using new aggressive tactics about 10 days ago, which Tehran believes is aimed at countering ships that violate Iran's restrictions.
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Attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and Their Consequences
The UK Maritime Trade Operations announced on Tuesday that a container ship and an oil tanker were targeted by projectiles of unknown origin within the Strait of Hormuz. These developments have heightened concerns about negative impacts on oil supply and rising prices in the global market. Priyanka Sachdeva, head of market analysis at Philip Nova, stated that Iranian officials are clearly speaking about disrupting U.S. efforts to control oil prices.
Additionally, the Saudi Ministry of Energy reported on Wednesday that the Houthi movement attacked an office building belonging to the state oil company Aramco in Dhahran. This attack caused damage to the company's building and raised concerns about the negative impacts of these conflicts on the oil and energy industry.
In this context, Hiroyuki Kyukawa, chief strategist at Nissan Securities, stated that concerns about oil supply due to conflicts between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia are driving prices upward. However, he expects that increased diesel exports from Russia will alleviate pressure on the market and limit severe price fluctuations.
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