Oil trades mixed amid Iran cargo ship incident
Oil traded mixed amid reports that Iran had seized a cargo ship in strategic Strait of Hormuz.
NEW YORK (AFP) - Crude oil prices traded mixed Tuesday amid reports that Iran had seized a cargo ship in Iranian territorial waters in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a key oil transit route.
New York s benchmark West Texas Intermediate for June delivery added seven cents, finishing at $57.06 a barrel.
In London trade, Brent North Sea crude for June delivery settled at $64.64 a barrel, shedding 19 cents from Monday s closing level.
Oil prices, which had been trading in negative territory, rebounded after reports that Iran ordered the Marshall Islands-flagged Maersk Tigris to dock at Bandar Abbas on Tuesday because of a commercial dispute.
US defense officials said the Tigris was forced to port after one Iranian naval vessel "fired shots" across the bow of the ship. The US military ordered a naval destroyer to the area.
The incident came amid heightened tensions in the region as Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies wage a campaign of air strikes in Yemen against Iranian-backed Huthi rebels.
"It could be some form of political statement that emphasizes Iran s dissatisfaction against the Saudi coalition s activity," Richard Mallinson, geopolitical analyst with consultancy Energy Aspects, told AFP.
Almost one third of the world s traded oil passes through the narrow Hormuz strait, which connects the oil-rich Gulf to the Indian Ocean.
Traders awaited Wednesday s weekly US inventories report from the US Department of Energy. Stockpiles are estimated to have increased by 2.5 million barrels to a fresh record in the week ended April 17, according to a Bloomberg News survey of experts.
Crude stockpiles rose to 489 million barrels in the prior week, the highest level in more than 80 years.
