Crude oil traded above $90 a barrel on Wednesday, its highest level since July 23, extending gains from the previous two sessions. Tensions in the Middle East remained high, with the US launching additional strikes on Iran and Washington warning of potentially more devastating attacks. Iranian media reported strikes on multiple targets near the Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran said it had hit US assets in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq.
At the same time, US President Trump said he “couldn’t care less” whether Iran agrees to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The latest attacks, which began early this week and were the first in nearly a month, have complicated diplomatic efforts to end the conflict and heightened the risk of further disruption to oil supplies. Even so, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright noted that 17 million barrels of oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, the highest daily volume since the start of the war.
