Trump Sanctions Threat Sends Oil Prices Soaring on Friday
Oil prices rose on Friday after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose economic sanctions on Iran's trading partners, raising expectations of tighter supply in the coming weeks.
The international benchmark Brent crude futures settled at $94.39 a barrel, up 61 cents or 0.65%, while US West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $87.06 a barrel, up 23 cents or 0.26%.
'Sanctions have been the only thing to bring Iran to heel,' said John Kilduff, partner with Again Capital.
Iranian exports are already heavily constrained by the US naval blockade, but an increase in shipping incidents and retaliation against economic sanctions could exacerbate the current situation at a time when traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains well below normal levels.
'Hormuz is still a problem, but it's no longer the only story,' said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group. 'Pipelines, shuttles, US shale, a recovering (if bottlenecked) Venezuela, and an unconstrained UAE are all adding barrels.'