U.S. Gulf Coast sour crude grades strengthened on Thursday as Middle East tensions remained elevated with competing U.S. and Iranian claims over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
The strait is "under Iran's control and management," the recently appointed head of Iran's Basij paramilitary unit said on Thursday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States had "total control" of the waterway.
Around a fifth of global oil and gas supplies typically flowed through that waterway before the Iran war broke out in late February.
Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to strike a deal to permanently end the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source, who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal reached in June and define a time frame to implement it.
Mars, the benchmark U.S. sour crude, rose to its highest level since July 27, while West Texas Sour also strengthened as both grades compete with the sour grades that Middle Eastern suppliers, including Saudi Arabia, produce.
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