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Oil Prices Resume Decline as Tankers Transit Through Strait of Hormuz

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Oil Prices Resume Decline as Tankers Transit Through Strait of Hormuz

Oil prices resumed their decline on Friday as tankers continued to transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a day after a vessel was attacked in the Gulf of Oman.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined 4.3% at $68.87 a barrel on Friday, while Brent dropped 4.2% to $72.31.

Oil prices rose more than 2% each on Thursday as the International Maritime Organization suspended its operation of evacuating stranded ships in the Strait of Hormuz after a cargo ship was attacked in the Gulf of Oman.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations said Thursday that a vessel was struck by an "unknown projectile."

Before Thursday, WTI had fallen for five days in a row, while Brent had retreated for three straight sessions.

"Oil was on track for a weekly decline after transits through the Strait of Hormuz accelerated, although an attack on a cargo ship by an 'unknown projectile' has renewed concerns about safe passage through the vital waterway," Saxo Bank said in a report Friday.

Last week, the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to end their war and reopen the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

Two US officials told Reuters on Thursday that Iran had fired at that ship.

"With the broader market focused on a recovery in oil flows from the region, price momentum still appears to be to the downside," ING Bank said in a note.

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