New Delhi, 13 April (H.S.):
The protracted West Asian crisis and the acrimonious denouement of US-Iran peace parleys without accord have profoundly reverberated through crude oil benchmarks. On Monday, prices breached $104 per barrel as President Donald Trump signaled naval measures to interdict access to the Strait of Hormuz.
In early international trading, Brent crude catapulted nearly 8% above $104, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark rocketed 8.61%. Currently, Brent trades at $102.3—up $7.07 or 7.43%—and WTI at $104.2, ascending $8.32 or 8.62%.
Market savants posit the oil arena has reverted to pre-ceasefire volatility, albeit with escalated stakes: the US contemplates curtailing Iranian exports, compounding Gulf exporters' paralysis from Hormuz strictures. Deemed the gravest petroleum exigency since the 1970s, Iran's erstwhile 2 million barrels daily outflow faces obliteration, portending acute global supply constriction.
---------------
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
