[Oil prices] End mixed; Brent at $108.82

[Financial News]  

International oil prices ended mixed on the 21st (local time).
The December delivery contract for West Texas Intermediate crude oil (WTI), which became the front-month benchmark that day, settled down $0.67 (0.68%) at $97.15 a barrel.
By contrast, the December Brent crude contract, a benchmark grade for international oil prices, ended the session up $0.03 (0.03%) at $108.82 a barrel.
As tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz mounted and airstrikes on Saudi oil facilities by pro-Iran Houthi rebels in Yemen continued, concerns about disruptions to Middle Eastern oil supplies persisted.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on the 20th that it had blocked three oil tankers attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz via a route not authorized by Iran, using naval mines.
In a statement posted on its own Sefa News website, the IRGC claimed, “Two tankers in violation hit mines, flames shot up, and they came to a stop.”
The Houthi rebels continue to attack Saudi Arabia.
As a result, average global crude oil shipping costs are soaring.
In a report on the 20th, Goldman Sachs said shipping costs, which were just $3 a barrel a year ago, now exceed $20 a barrel. Goldman added that about $7 of the $20 is the cost of transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

[email protected] Song Kyung-jae Reporter