Commodities
US Blockade Threat Sends Oil Prices Soaring Higher
Oil prices rebounded on Friday after the US threatened an indefinite naval blockade of Iran, causing concerns about crude supply to resurface.
The threat of a prolonged blockade has put pressure back on oil markets, leading Brent futures to rise by $0.90 or 1.03% to $87.97 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures increased by $0.91 to $82.16 per barrel.
The price gains come after a prior session's decline of over 2%, but the benchmarks are still on track for weekly rises of about 4%.
Rystad Energy's Susan Bell noted that despite bearish crude stock data, the broader geopolitical backdrop is preventing a sharper price decline.