Crude oil prices fall; barrel still above 110 dollars
Oil prices fell on international markets on Tuesday, a day after the United States launched an action aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, but the fall in prices was limited and prices remained above $110.
On the London market, a barrel of Brent oil traded in the afternoon at a price of 112.61 dollars, 1.83 dollars or 1.6 percent lower than at the close of trading the day before, when they ended up 5.8 percent higher.
On the American market, the price of a barrel of WTI oil dropped by $2.5, or 2.35 percent, to $103.92, after rising by 4.4 percent on Monday.
Shipping company Maersk announced that the Alliance Fairfax, a US-flagged vehicle carrier operated by its subsidiary Farrell Lines, left the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday accompanied by US military forces.
“This shows that limited safe passage is possible under current conditions and helps ease some of the worst fears of supply disruptions,” said chief market analyst at KCM Trade. Tim Waterer in the email.
“However, it is still a one-off event rather than a full reopening,” he added.
Iran launched strikes in the Persian Gulf on Monday to counter US attempts to seize control of the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the transit of oil and gas from the Middle East.
Several merchant ships in the Gulf reported explosions or fires on Monday, and an oil port in the United Arab Emirates, home to a major US military base, caught fire after Iranian missile attacks.
The US military announced on Monday that it had destroyed six Iranian small boats, as well as cruise missiles and drones, after US President Donald Trump sent the navy to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz as part of an initiative it called Project Freedom.
“Prices continue to move within the range in which they oscillate noticeably, mostly under the influence of constant tensions in the Strait of Hormuz,” said the company’s senior market analyst Phillip Nova Priyanka Sachdeva.
“Although prices have decreased slightly in recent days, this is not the result of a real improvement in fundamental indicators, but the result of temporary relief after the United States launched an initiative called ‘Project Freedom,'” she added.
Separate calculations by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) show that a barrel of the oil basket of its members was $4.57 cheaper on Monday than last Friday, and stood at $116.54.
