Crude oil contracts were solidly higher around midday Wednesday following new strikes between the U.S. and Iran, testing a fragile cease-fire and dimming the chance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz anytime soon.
At noon ET, July NYMEX West Texas Intermediate crude contracts were up $2.20 to $95.95/bbl and August WTI was $2.25 higher to $92.70/bbl.
London-based August ICE Brent was up $1.95 to $97.95/bbl and September Brent was $1.85 higher to $95.30/bbl.
Both oil benchmarks are on track to finish sharply higher for a third straight session, boosted by resurgent geopolitical tensions between Washington and Tehran and increasing doubts over a plan to restart Mideast oil flow.
Diesel contracts sharply outperformed gasoline. July ULSD was up 15.55cts to $3.854/gal and August ULSD was 14.7cts higher to $3.7830/gal. July RBOB was up 0.9ct to $3.1535/gal and August RBOB was rising 2.20cts to $3.0995/gal.
On Wednesday, Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles and drones at Kuwait that killed one person and injured a dozens at the Gulf kingdom's international airport, according to The Wall Street Journal. It was Tehran's largest military attack since the cease-fire agreement was reached between the U.S. and Iran almost two months ago.
The U.S. and Iran exchanged heavy fire Tuesday evening, after the U.S. struck an empty oil tanker it said was attempting to breach its blockade, the Journal reported.
The oil market was also digesting the latest weekly petroleum data released by the Energy Information Administration, which showed a sharp drawdown in U.S. commercial oil inventories with increases in both distillate and gasoline supplies last week.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
Reporting by Frank Tang, ftang@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 03, 2026 12:33 ET (16:33 GMT)
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