Brent crude closed above $91 a barrel on Tuesday, August 18, having gained over 4.5% across the previous three sessions. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), or the US crude variant is extending its gains in early Asian trading on Wednesday, moving past the mark of $85 a barrel.
US President Donald Trump, in a Truth Social post on Tuesday, declared that there are no ongoing talks or scheduled talks with Iran but the Strait of Hormuz is open, operational and demined as well. Earlier, he had posted a picture of a map of the region, declaring it to be the new US territory.
In addition, the UAE announced that it is suspending all trade and financial transactions with Iran until further notice, accusing Iran of firing two ballistic missiles towards its territory on Tuesday. The country’s Defence Ministry stated that only one of those could reach its waters, while the other fell into the sea. It cited regional escalations by Iran as the reason behind the suspension of ties.
Iran, in response, has denied that it fired any missiles at UAE, with foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei calling the accusations to be baseless.
Inventories in the US continued to remain lower with stockpiles falling as per the American Petroleum Institute data. Official data will be announced today. The margin for making diesel from crude in the US has also soared past $100 a barrel, making new record highs.
