WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following two consecutive sessions of sharp gains, crude oil has catapulted on Wednesday as an end to the Middle East war still remains elusive, keeping the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz active.
WTI Crude Oil for June month delivery was last seen trading up by $6.79 (or 6.79%) at $106.72 per barrel. Earlier, the price briefly hit a 52-week high of $107.68 after which it receded.
The U.S.-Israel versus Iran war that started on February 28 entered day number 61 today.
Despite the ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on April 8 for two weeks and then extended for an indefinite period from April 22, a diplomatic breakthrough is yet to be reached.
The first round of U.S.-Iran talks held in Pakistan on April 11-12 failed, and days later, Trump agreed to send his emissaries to Pakistan for a second round.
Iran hesitated for a few days to participate, insisting that the U.S. lift its earlier enforced blockade on all vessels traveling to and from Iranian ports but later agreed to attend last weekend.
Hours before the second round was set to begin, Trump called off the meeting, asking Iran to call the U.S. with any feasible plan.
On Monday, Iran submitted a proposal consenting to reopen the strait in exchange for withdrawal of the U.S. blockade but wanted to discuss its nuclear ambitions only at a later stage.
With the Trump administration showing disinterest, Iran is preparing a revised plan.
Through his Truth Social platform, Trump urged Iran to hasten the process and get its act together soon.
Axios reported that Trump met the top executives of major oil firms to indicate that the oil blockade could extend much longer and explored options to reduce the effect on American consumers.
With no agreement between the U.S. and Iran in sight, oil supply disruption continues pushing oil prices higher and higher.
The extended closure of the Strait of Hormuz has shut-in over 10 million barrels per day of crude oil.
Experts are concerned that even if an agreement is reached between the U.S. and Iran leading to an unconditional reopening of the strait today, production recovery could take months to years.
The war has inflicted severe damages to oil wells across the gulf, which will complicate a quick restart.
There is no other region in the world to offset the heavy loss of supply from the Middle East.
On the inventory front, data provided by the American Petroleum Institute showed that crude oil inventories fell by 1.79 million barrels for the week ending April 24, contrary to expectations of a 0.30-million-barrel increase.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, for the week ending April 24, crude oil inventories in the U.S. fell by 6,233,000 barrels to 459,500 barrels.
At the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub, inventories decreased by 796,000 barrels.
For the same period, gasoline inventories plunged by 6,075,000 barrels following a 4,570,000-barrel-decrease in the previous week, distillate inventories decreased by 4,494,000 barrels after falling by 3,427,000 barrels in the previous week, and heating oil inventories dropped by 625,000 barrels.
On the economic front, Mortgage Bankers Association data revealed that the Purchase Index increased to 177.70 on April 24 from 175.60 of the previous week.
At the conclusion of the two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee today, the U.S. Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged (at 3.50% to 3.75%), as widely expected by investors. This is the central bank's third consecutive pause for this year.
In a significant move yesterday, the United Arab Emirates announced that it was exiting the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as well as the OPEC+ group.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
