Shafaq News
Crude oil futures spiked $5 a barrel on Thursday afterreports that air defenses were engaging targetsover Tehran and of apower struggle between Iran's hardliners and moderates.
After spiking, the benchmarks pared gains.
Brent crude futures settled at $105.07 a barrel, gaining$3.16 or 3.1%. West Texas Intermediate futures finished at $95.85 a barrel, up$2.89, or 3.11%.
IRAN NEGOTIATOR QUITS
Israeli radio reported the resignation of Iran's topnegotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, from the team speaking to the U.S. throughPakistani intermediaries about ending the war.
Qalibaf's resignation was seen as a victory for hardlineelements within the Iranian government.
Iranian news services said air defenses in Tehran wereengaging targets over the city. That followed reports of drone attacks onIranian Kurdish opponents of the Tehran government at a base in Iraq.
Iran flaunted its tightened grip over the Strait of Hormuz with videoof its commandos storming a huge cargo ship, after the collapse of peace talksthat Washington had hoped would open the important shipping corridor.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post thathe had ordered the U.S. Navy "to shoot and kill any boat" mining thestrait.
John Kilduff, partner with Again Capital, said the marketwas being buffeted by alternating news reports of Trump extending the ceasefirethis week and threatening to sink Iranian mine-laying ships.
"Some people call it headline bingo, I call it headlineroulette," Kilduff said. "I fear we're going to wake up one day andrealize we're in a much worse (supply) position and prices are going to resetto a much higher level."
STRAIT OF HORMUZ TRANSIT STILL RESTRICTED
While Trump extended a ceasefire between the countries aftera request by Pakistani mediators, Iran and the U.S. are still restrictingtransit of ships throughthe strait, which carried about 20% of daily global oil supplies until the startof thewaron February 28.
Trump, without providing evidence, said on Thursday the U.S.had "total control" over the strait, and that it was "sealed uptight" until Iran made a deal.
Iran seized two ships in the waterway on Wednesday. Trumphas maintained a U.S. Navy blockade of Iran's trade by sea.
However, about 10.7 million barrels of Iranian crudeexports crossed through the strait and left the area blockaded by the U.S. Navy between April 13 and21, data analytics company Vortexa said.
The U.S. military hasinterceptedat least threeIranian-flagged tankers in Asian waters and is redirecting them away frompositions near India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, shipping and security sourcessaid on Wednesday.
Trump has not set an end date for the extended ceasefire,White House press secretaryKaroline Leavitt told reporters.
Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group, saidprices were constrained by confidence in the crude market.
"The market continues to believe we're going to find away through this," Flynn said.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas on Thursday said a surveyof 120 oil and natural gascompany executives this month found 39% expect traffic through the strait toreturn to normal by August and 26% expect normal traffic through the waterwayby November.
Twenty percent of the executives surveyed between April 15and 20 believe traffic will be normal by May, according to the Dallas Fed.
(Reuters)
Only the headline is edited by Shafaq News Agency.