Oil closed higher on Wednesday in international markets.

The August contract of WTI crude oil negotiated in New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) closed this Wednesday (15) with a slight increase of 0.33%, quoted at US$ 79.60/barrel. The September contract of Brent advanced 0.26% in Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), trading at US$ 84.95/barrel. 

In this trading session, prices continued to be driven by escalating tensions between the United States and Iran. US President Donald Trump stated that attacks against the Persian country will continue in the coming days, with the aim of pressuring the Tehran administration to reach an agreement. 

The US Central Command (Centcom) declared that another round of attacks on Iranian territory has been completed. On the other side, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed as long as US bombing continues.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) It was announced that the volume of oil stored in the country – not considering strategic reserves – fell by 1.692 million barrels in the week ending July 10, to 409.7 million barrels, lower than the market projection of a drop of 1.8 million barrels.

This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.