April WTI crude oil (CLJ26) on Thursday closed up +8.48 (+9.72%), and April RBOB gasoline (RBJ26) closed up +0.1763 (+6.32%). Energy prices settled sharply higher on Thursday due to comments from Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who said that Iran's leverage of closing the Strait of Hormuz should be used and attacks on Gulf Arab neighbors will continue. He added that Iran will open unspecified "other fronts" in the war if the US and Israel persist with their attacks.
Gains in crude oil accelerated on Thursday after UK Defense Secretary Healey said it is increasingly evident that Iran is laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Also, comments from President Trump gave crude prices a boost when he said that preventing Iran from having nuclear weapons is "of far greater interest and importance" to him than the cost of oil, a sign that the war in the Middle East isn't close to a de-escalation.
