By Scott DiSavino
NEW YORK, April 7 (Reuters) – Oil prices settled mixed on Tuesday, with Brent down on worries that high energy prices could slow economic growth, while U.S. crude closed at its highest since 2022 ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent futures fell 50 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $109.27 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 54 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $112.95, well off its session high when it was up by over $5 a barrel.
Typically WTI trades at a discount to Brent, but this has reversed in a market where barrels for earlier delivery command a higher price. The benchmark WTI contract is for May delivery while Brent is for June.
WTI closed at its highest since June 2022 for a fourth day in a row. In March, when the Brent front-month was for delivery in May, Brent also closed at its highest since June 2022.
U.S. crude’s gains came “as the market leans further into a prolonged disruption scenario rather than a near-term resolution,” analysts at energy consulting firm Gelber & Associates said.
For the second straight day, the WTI front-month contract finished with a record-high premium over the second-month contract.
“Time spreads have continued to widen, signaling that the tightness is most acute in the prompt market as refiners compete for immediately available barrels,” Gelber said.
As the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran squeezes global supplies, European and Asian refiners are paying record-high prices of near $150 a barrel for some crude oil grades, far exceeding prices for paper futures.
“WHOLE CIVILIZATION WILL DIE TONIGHT”
Trump threatened that “a whole civilization will die tonight” as Iran showed no sign of accepting his ultimatum to open the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday evening. The strait handles about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows.
Trump has given Iran until 8 p.m. in Washington, 3:30 a.m. in Tehran, to end its blockade of Gulf oil or see the U.S. destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran. Iran has said it would retaliate against U.S. allies in the Gulf.
Talks between the U.S. and Iran were at risk of being derailed following Tehran’s attacks on Saudi Arabian industrial facilities, two Pakistani sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters on Tuesday.
As Trump’s deadline approached, strikes on Iran intensified throughout the day, hitting railway and road bridges, an airport and a petrochemical plant and knocking out power lines, according to Iranian media.
Explosions were reported on Kharg Island, home to Iran’s oil export terminal, which Trump has openly mused about destroying or seizing.
SLOWER GROWTH, HIGHER INFLATION
World Bank President Ajay Banga said the Iran war would result in some degree of slower growth in the global economy and higher inflation, regardless of how quickly it ended.
Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Austan Goolsbee said he was worried the war would drive inflation higher while also slowing the economy, putting the Fed in a situation where there’s no obvious “cookbook” for what to do.
Disrupted exports from Gulf oil producers have sent oil prices soaring. This has meant a financial windfall for those still able to export – Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia – while other states have lost billions of dollars, a Reuters analysis found.
The leaders of the International Energy Agency, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank will discuss the energy crisis triggered by the Iran war next Monday, IEA executive director Fatih Birol said.
China and Russia vetoed a United Nations resolution encouraging states to coordinate efforts to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. ambassador to the world body called on “responsible nations” to join in securing the vital waterway.
Crude exports from Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu fell by about 15% week-on-week to average nearly 3.9 million barrels per day in the week beginning March 30, shipping data from LSEG and Kpler showed.
In the U.S., energy traders waited for direction from weekly storage reports from the American Petroleum Institute trade group later on Tuesday and the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.
Analysts projected energy firms added 0.7 million barrels of crude into storage during the week ended April 3. [EIA/S] [API/S]
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino in New York and Shadia Nasralla in London; additional reporting by Anmol Choubey in Bengaluru and Emily Chow in Singapore; editing by Susan Fenton, Deepa Babington, Chris Reese and David Gregorio)
