[Global Oil Prices] Tanker attacks push crude back above 90 dollars... "Limited impact from IEA reserve release"

[The Financial News]

On the 11th (local time), global oil prices once again climbed above 90 dollars per barrel.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed that day to release a record 400 million barrels from strategic reserves, but news of merchant vessels being hit around the Strait of Hormuz intensified concerns over supply disruptions.
According to Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC), May futures for Brent Crude Oil, the global benchmark, surged 4.76% from the previous session to 91.98 dollars per barrel.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil (WTI), the US benchmark, also jumped 4.55%, with April front‐month contracts closing at 87.25 dollars per barrel.
United States of America (US) President Donald John Trump asserted that he had destroyed almost all of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s mine‐laying vessels and removed most of the mines installed in the Strait of Hormuz, insisting that traffic through the strait should resume. His remarks, however, failed to calm market jitters.
Because merchant ships passing near Iranian waters were attacked that day, many tankers are now reluctant to transit the strait. The US has offered to provide insurance services, but in practice it is almost impossible to ask crews to risk their lives to sail through this area.
Sasha Foss, an energy market analyst at Marex, told CNBC that the key factor for the market is how long the war lasts, and he pointed out that the IEA’s reserve release would only have an effect for a few days.
Foss said the war needs to end this week so that the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz can be lifted. He warned that if the blockade drags on, oil prices will again climb above 100 dollars per barrel.

dympna@fnnews.com Song Kyung-jae Reporter