New York.- The price of Texas Intermediate oil (WTI) opened this Wednesday with a rise of 0.19%, to 85.10 dollars per barrel, driven by uncertainty surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman, one of the main global routes for oil and gas transport that has become the biggest point of tension in the conflict between the United States and Iran.
At 09:00 local time (13:00 GMT), WTI futures contracts for September, the benchmark in the United States, were up 0.16 dollars from the previous close.
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Through his social network, Truth Social, U.S. President Donald Trump, who also posted an image indicating that the Strait of Hormuz was new United States territory, stated that “there are no ongoing or scheduled talks or negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Furthermore, he said that “the naval blockade remains in full force” and that “the Strait of Hormuz is open and operational. All sea mines have been removed or detonated.”
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In the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates announced the suspension of all its commercial relations, trade exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran, after Emirati authorities detected the launch of two Iranian ballistic missiles toward its territory.
Today, investors will also analyze the official inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Oil and the Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the main strategic chokepoints for the global energy market. This maritime route, located between Iran and Oman, connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, and a significant portion of the oil and gas exported from Middle Eastern producing countries to international markets passes through it.
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Due to its importance, any threat of closure, blockade, or interruption of maritime traffic in this area can generate concern among operators and trigger movements in international crude oil prices. The strait has special relevance for countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar, whose energy exports depend heavily on this route.
The oil market is especially sensitive to geopolitical tensions because a prolonged supply disruption could reduce the amount of crude available internationally and increase transport and insurance costs for companies operating in the region.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is one of the main benchmarks used to determine the price of oil in the United States, while Brent serves as the international benchmark. Both indicators react to factors such as geopolitical conflicts, production levels of exporting countries, global demand, reserves, and economic outlooks.
In the United States, one of the data points that investors follow most closely is oil inventories, published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). A reduction in reserves is usually interpreted as a sign of higher demand or lower availability of crude and can exert upward pressure on prices. Conversely, a significant increase in inventories can generate downward pressure.
The evolution of the conflict between the United States and Iran currently constitutes another factor of uncertainty for the energy market. Any escalation that affects commercial navigation or oil infrastructure in the Middle East could have repercussions beyond the region and spill over into international prices.
For this reason, markets are closely monitoring both statements from the governments involved and the movements of ships and security conditions in major maritime routes. The behavior of WTI in the coming days will depend, to a large extent, on whether tensions around Hormuz increase or decrease and how crude oil inventories in the United States evolve.
