The price of Brent crude oil futures for prompt delivery rose on Tuesday to a one-month high over the price for oil six months later as traders priced in renewed risks to Middle Eastern supplies and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The first-month Brent contract traded $8.92 a barrel above the sixth-month contract, its largest premium since June 10. A market structure in which prompt contracts trade at a premium to later ones is known as backwardation and is typically viewed as a sign [Read more]

President Donald Trump on Tuesday told reporters ahead of a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi that the United States would be doing a lot of deals with Iraq and taking a lot of oil out of the country. "Iraq has tremendous potential because of their oil... and we're going to be doing a lot of deals. We're going to create a lot of jobs for both countries, and we're going to be taking out a lot of oil," said Trump, without giving details. "A lot of oil is coming out, and the [Read more]

Cuba's national power grid collapsed on Tuesday, the energy ministry said, marking the third major blackoutin nine days on the island of about 10 million people. "There has been a total disconnection of the electrical system," the ministry said on social media. The frequent outages come as a U.S.-imposed oil blockade has crippled the island's already aging energy infrastructure. U.S. President Donald Trump imposed an oil blockade on the Caribbean island after Washington deposed Venezuelan [Read more]

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday dropped the idea of charging a 20% fee on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, and said he would instead take trade and investment deals with the Gulf states. The change of plan comes a day after Trump proposed charging a 20% fee to guard the waterway. "Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf [Read more]

Oil prices rose nearly 3% on Tuesday to their highest in four weeks, as the U.S. reimposed its naval blockade of Iran while the two countries stepped up attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, heightening uncertainty about energy flows. Brent crude futures were last up $1.50, or 1.8%, to $84.80 per barrel at 0330 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.70, or 2.2%, to $79.84 a barrel. Both contracts earlier rose more than $2 a barrel before paring some gains, while Brent had surged [Read more]

One Indian crew member was killed and eight others were wounded when two Emirati oil tankers were struck by Iranian cruise missiles in the Strait of Hormuz, the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday, in the latest escalation in the strategic waterway. The ministry said the tankers, the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah, were targeted in the southern lane of the strait while in Omani territorial waters. The dead crew member was aboard the Mombasa, it said. Of the eight wounded, four [Read more]

U.S. President Donald Trump has sent Congress formal notification that hostilities against Iran resumed on July 7, a letter his administration sees as opening a new 60-day window to use the military in the region without congressional approval. "I directed this military action consistent with my responsibility to protect Americans and United States' national security and foreign policy interests," Trump said in the letter, dated July 10, and seen by Reuters on Monday. The letter outlines [Read more]

President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that the United States was attacking Iran's capabilities related to the Strait of Hormuz, amid renewed military action between the two countries. The U.S. military said on Monday it was launching fresh strikes against Iran but Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on Monday that he had not decided that a negotiated settlement could not be reached with Tehran. Trump also said that it could be that there are Iranian drones in Cuba. "If [Read more]

Iran and the U.S. have both announced rival blockades of the Strait of Hormuz once again, crippling an already fragile ceasefire deal. This should alarm oil traders who had been pricing in a rapid return to normal. But markets appear sanguine – and that may be a miscalculation. The global oil and gas market proved remarkably resilient during the 108-day conflict, thanks in large part to the ample global reserves present before the war began on February 28. But the energy market is no longer [Read more]