The light, sweet crude oil contract for August delivery gained $1 to settle above $70/bbl on the New York futures market July 20 while Brent crude oil prices gained modestly to hold around $73/bbl. Oil prices continued gaining in July 23 trading on news of a clash between US and Iranian leaders.
US President Donald Trump on July 22 tweeted a message to Iran President Hassan Rouhani, warning threats will be met with consequences. The tweet appeared to refer to comments Rouhani reportedly made warning against hardline US policies against Iran.
Trump in May announced a US exit from an international agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program. Trump plans to reinstate unilateral US economic sanctions against Iran’s oil industry starting in November.
Analysts have estimated as much as 1 million b/d of Iran’s oil exports could be disrupted. Concerns about supply disruptions from Iran, Venezuela, and a temporary outage in Canadian oil sands supply by the Syncrude joint venture have supported oil prices recently.
Trump’s tweet, written in capital letters except for the salutation, “To Iranian President Rouhani,” did not specify consequences.
“NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE,” President Trump wrote.
The tweet apparently was in response to news reports quoting President Rouhani as saying, “America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars.”
Energy prices
The light, sweet crude contract for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $1 to close at $70.46/bbl on July 20. The September price settled up 2¢ to $68.26/bbl.
The NYMEX natural gas price for August fell 1¢ to a rounded $2.76/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price gained 4¢ to $2.76/MMbtu.
Ultralow-sulfur diesel for August rose 1¢ to $2.10/gal. The NYMEX reformulated gasoline blendstock for August gained 2.5¢ to settle at a rounded $2.07/gal.
Brent crude oil for September gained 49¢ to $73.07/bbl on London’s International Commodity Exchange. The October contract also was up 47¢ to $73.14/bbl. The gas oil contract for August was $644.75/tonne, up $3.25.
The OPEC basket of crudes average price for July 20 was $71.57/bbl, up 66¢.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
