Economy
Brent Crude Rises to $103 as Iran Vows Never to Surrender to US
By Adedapo Adesanya
Prices of crude oil surged on Wednesday as traders evaluated Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s vow never to surrender, a day after US President Donald Trump warned he could annihilate the Middle East country.
Brent crude futures went up by $3.83 or 3.86 per cent to $103.08 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures gained $1.64 or 1.81 per cent to trade at $92.16 per barrel.
At the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Mr Pezeshkian said that Iran would never surrender to the US but still believes in diplomacy. On Tuesday, President Trump used a speech at the same forum to make his threat.
Meanwhile, Iran is reportedly reviewing the US response to its proposal to end hostilities, though many differences remain.
Reuters reported that a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and lifting of Washington’s naval blockade on Iran were discussed during indirect talks on Tuesday.
Only three commodity vessels moved through the Strait of Hormuz in the past day, preliminary tanker-tracking data by Kpler showed on Wednesday, as the oil market weighs the potential resumption of US-Iran talks against continued disruptions in the Middle East.
The three commodity vessels, which included one Panamax oil tanker, transited the Strait of Hormuz outbound, according to Kpler’s data.
The observable traffic on Tuesday was below Monday’s four vessels that transited Hormuz, and well below the 10-day moving average of roughly 15 vessel transits, the data showed.
Saudi Arabia has resumed operations on its East-West Pipeline to the Red Sea after drone attacks forced the kingdom to shut the pipeline on September 11, halting crude loadings at Yanbu port.
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia offered more barrels to Asian refiners for lifting from locations outside of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iraq’s minister said on Tuesday the country is exporting more than 3 million barrels per day, and expects to boost exports via Turkey to more than 600,000 barrels per day.
Ukraine and Russia have both voiced an interest in a limited ceasefire involving grain and energy-related targets, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York.
US crude inventories rose by 3 million barrels to 426.4 million barrels in the week ended September 18, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.
