Crude oil price spikes on rumor

Crude oil prices rose by over $1.50 per barrel on Wednesday and was up by over $5 per barrel for a time shortly after the markets opened this morning after reports that an Iranian missile had hit a US naval vessel. Prices declined from that spike, though, after a US government spokesman denied that any weapons had been fired. Prices were also supported by an unexpected drop in US crude oil inventories last week.

The Energy Information Administration issued new figures that showed crude oil stockpiles down by 900,000 barrels in the week ending March 23. Inventories were instead expected to increase by 1.1 million barrels during the week. Meanwhile, stockpiles of gasoline and heating oil declined by around the amounts expected, with gasoline inventories down by 300,000 barrels and heating oil stockpiles 700,000 barrels lower.

By midday in New York, West Texas Intermediate crude May contracts were $1.53 higher to $64.46 per barrel. May deliveries of Brent crude also gained $1.53 to trade at $66.13 per barrel. Gasoline futures were up less than half a cent to $2.0775 per gallon, while heating oil added 5.61 cents to $1.8425 per gallon. Natural gas gained 20.8 cents to $7.711 per 1,000 cubic feet.