[Global Oil Prices] Brent Crude Holds Above $100 a Barrel Amid Strait of Hormuz Blockade... Surges 11% in a Week

[Financial News]


Global oil prices extended their gains on the 13th (local time).
The Islamic Republic of Iran has effectively blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas supplies pass, and concerns over supply disruptions have not eased.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the United States Department of Defense (DoD) had deployed a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) to the Middle East in response to Iran’s blockade threat, but this did not stop the upward trend in oil prices.
According to Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC), Brent Crude Oil, the global benchmark, saw its May front-month contract jump $2.68, or 2.67%, to settle at $103.14 a barrel.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil (WTI), the U.S. benchmark, also surged, with the April front-month contract soaring $2.98, or 3.11%, to close at $98.71 a barrel.
Oil prices also posted sharp gains on a weekly basis.
Brent Crude Oil recorded a double-digit weekly increase. Excluding a decline on the 3rd, it logged strong gains on four of the five trading days over the past week, bringing its weekly rise to 11.3%.
WTI soared 8.6% over the same period.
The upward momentum in oil prices continued after Donald John Trump, President of the United States, said overnight that an end to the war with the Islamic Republic of Iran was not imminent.
President of the United States Trump reaffirmed his determination to continue the war, stating that U.S. military power overwhelmingly surpasses that of Iran and that the United States has ample ammunition.

dympna@fnnews.com Song Kyung-jae Reporter