Oil: WTI and Brent crude fell more than 3% on Friday morning.

At 9:45 am (Brasilia time) this Friday (26), the August contract of WTI crude oil recorded a significant drop of 3.11% in New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), quoted at US$ 69.68/barrel. The September contract for Brent It fell 3.21% in Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), traded at US$73.08/barrel. Futures are heading to end the week with an accumulated loss of more than 8%. Yesterday (19), the WTI It advanced 2.25%, to US$71.92/barrel, and the Brent The price of crude oil rose 2.21% to US$75.50 per barrel. The market was boosted by news that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) had suspended an evacuation operation aimed at removing hundreds of ships and thousands of crew members stranded in the Strait of Hormuz region, following an attack on a Taiwanese-operated vessel in the Gulf of Oman. Due to the incident, fewer vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. However, at least four oil tankers, each with a maximum capacity of 2 million barrels, and two supertankers managed to enter the Gulf to load oil, further pressuring global fuel prices. The Iranian government reaffirmed earlier today its right to control navigation through the strait and warned Gulf states against any alignment with the United States. Negotiations for a permanent ceasefire in the region remain on the radar. Also weighing on fuel prices was the news that Audi Aramco resumed loading oil today at its Ras Tanura terminal in the Persian Gulf, after a shutdown of almost four months.

This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.