Oil prices rise more than 4%, with WTI closing the week above $81 a barrel.

The August contract of WTI crude oil negotiated in New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) closed this Friday (17) with a significant increase of 4.47%, quoted at US$ 81.78/barrel. The September contract of Brent advanced 4.59% in Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), trading at US$ 88.10/barrel. For the week, the contracts accumulated gains of 3.58% and 4.59%, respectively. 

In this trading session, fuel prices continued to be impacted by the new escalation of hostilities in the Persian Gulf, amid an exchange of attacks between the United States and Iran, which resulted in the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Kuwaiti government accused the Iranian administration of bombing a power generation and water desalination plant, which caused a fire and damaged electricity production.

In a statement, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) asserted that as long as the US continues attacking targets in the Persian country, no energy exports from the region will continue. 

As reported by Axios, the U.S. government has notified Israel that dozens of additional refueling aircraft are being sent to the country as a measure to assist in its defense against Tehran. 

This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.