Oil prices gave up gains on July 30 as tensions escalated, with Brent and WTI futures falling after a sharp spike in the previous session.
Brent crude futures fell 79 cents (0.9%) to $87.30 a barrel as of 0015 GMT, according to one set of figures, while another report showed a decline of $1.29 (1.42%) to $89.45 a barrel as of 1:10 AM GMT. Similarly, US West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 76 cents (0.9%) to $83.70 a barrel in one account, or 56 cents (0.66%) to $83.90 in another. The discrepancies stem from different reporting times and methodologies.
The previous session, Brent settled up 7.91% and WTI up 6.56%, reversing a 5% plunge on Tuesday. That spike was one of the sharpest of the Iran war, which began in February and has been expanding beyond its main fronts.
Commodity ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Tuesday, the highest since July 19.
Despite the conflict, commodity tankers continued to pass through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, with 39 ships on Tuesday — the highest since July 19. Only a few ships transited the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important oil shipping route, which has been largely blocked since the start of the US-Iran war. About a fifth of global oil and gas previously flowed through the strait.
Oil continues to leak out of the region through multiple channels
Iran rejected an Omani proposal for joint management of the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian official said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, US-Saudi airstrikes hit Iran-backed paramilitary forces in Iraq on Wednesday — the first time Saudi Arabia publicly joined US air strikes. The strikes were retaliation for drone attacks on Saudi oil targets launched from Iraq, and marked the resumption of US strikes after President Donald Trump called off a bombing campaign amid dwindling munitions.
Iran said it fired on US bases in Jordan and struck three tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz through an unauthorized route. Separately, Saudi Arabia was seeking to build a coalition to protect Red Sea shipping from Houthi attacks, sources said. The Iran-backed Houthi group in Yemen said on July 20 it would impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, expanding attacks on tankers and opening a new front.