Oil prices edge higher amid developments in Middle East

Oil prices rose on news from the Middle East, recovering losses from the previous day caused by agreements between Iran and Israel to halt attacks against each other.

According to the trading data, cited by Report, the price of August futures for Brent crude on the London ICE Futures exchange amounted to $91.84 per barrel, which is 0.43% higher than at the previous trading close.

WTI crude futures for July on the electronic trading platform of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) rose by 0.45% to $88.60 per barrel.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran on Wednesday morning attacked 21 US targets in response to strikes by U.S. armed forces on the Iranian coast and islands in the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC claims it destroyed a hangar of F-35 fighter jets at a base in Jordan and shot down an American MQ-9 drone in the sky over the Iranian city of Jask.

The escalation of the conflict occurred after U.S. forces attacked Qeshm Island and air defense positions along the Iranian coast in the Strait of Hormuz, accusing Iran of destroying an Apache helicopter.

Additional support for oil prices came from published Tuesday data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), according to which U.S. oil reserves fell by about 9.12 million barrels last week and updated a four-month low.