JAKARTA - World oil prices rose more than 2 percent on Wednesday. New attacks by the United States on Iran and the Houthi group's threat to shipping to Saudi Arabia triggered concerns over Middle East energy supplies.
Anadolu Agency quoted Wednesday, July 22, saying that Brent crude, which is the global benchmark, was trading at 93.11 US dollars per barrel at 07.00 GMT. The price rose 2.31 percent from the previous close of 91.01 US dollars.
West Texas Intermediate or WTI oil, which is the reference for the United States, also rose around 2.31 percent to 86.29 US dollars per barrel. In the previous session, WTI closed at 84.34 US dollars.
The price increase came after US forces attacked three locations in Bushehr Province, southwest Iran, early Wednesday. Iranian state media said one of the targets was in an area that houses a key nuclear facility.
Deputy Governor of Bushehr for Political and Security Affairs Ehsan Jahanian said the explosion was reported in the Bushehr and Dashti regions. The attack near Khormoj, the capital of Dashti County, did not cause any casualties.
The attack was part of a new wave of US attacks on a number of Iranian regions. Air defenses around Tehran were activated, while attacks were also reported in other parts of the country.
The US Central Command on Tuesday said it had completed its 11th consecutive night of strikes against Iran.
Tehran retaliated by attacking facilities and bases in a number of regional countries that Iran says the US military uses.
Fighting is still going on despite the US and Iran signing a memorandum mediated by Pakistan in June. The deal is aimed at ending the war that began in February and paving the way for a long-term peace deal.
Oil prices have again received a boost after the Houthi group in Yemen announced a ban on shipping to Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis claimed that six ships turned around within 24 hours of receiving the group's warning. However, the names of the ships and the location of the change in their course were not revealed.
Saudi Arabia condemned the move and said it would take firm action to protect its territory and ships.
The possibility of negotiations between Washington and Tehran limits the rise in oil prices.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was still open to a diplomatic settlement with Iran.
"The United States has always been committed to diplomacy. We remain open and always willing to resolve differences through negotiations. This also applies in the case of Iran," Rubio said at an ASEAN meeting in Manila, Philippines.
Rubio said Iran has been in contact with Washington directly and indirectly about the possibility of talks.
"The problem now is that they are not serious in negotiations," he said.
"If they are serious, we are serious. If not, we will do what is necessary to protect our interests and those of our allies."
On the other hand, the American Petroleum Institute reported that US commercial crude inventories rose by 2.6 million barrels last week. The market previously expected inventories to fall by 1.5 million barrels.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release official data on oil inventories on Wednesday local time.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
