Oil closed higher this Thursday, the 16th, due to the lack of concrete signs of progress in negotiations between the USA and Iran and the increase in investor skepticism regarding statements by North American President Donald Trump that the conflict would soon end.
WTI oil for May traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) closed up 3.72% (US$3.40), at US$94.69 per barrel.
Brent for June, traded on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), advanced 4.7% (US$4.46), to US$99.39 a barrel.
Oil accelerated its rise in trading amid reports from Pakistani officials that there is no date set for a new round of US-Iran talks.
Trump said again this Thursday that representatives from the two countries could meet this weekend, after the failure of last weekend’s negotiations in Pakistan. According to him, the US has a “great relationship with Iran” and the country would have agreed to “almost everything” that was proposed.
With the end of the ceasefire between the United States and Iran approaching, scheduled for Tuesday the 21st, some leaders in the Persian Gulf and Europe estimate that a definitive solution could take around six months.
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The truce would be extended long enough to cover that period, according to Bloomberg. Regarding Lebanon, Trump said today that the leaders of the country and Israel have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire.
For Capital Economics, hopes that the ceasefire will be extended are growing as negotiations continue.
Bruno Cordeiro, market intelligence analyst at Stonex, sees the rise in oil as a movement that reflects the market’s growing skepticism about the ability of US-Iran negotiations to produce an agreement quickly enough to normalize flows through the Strait.
Meanwhile, the impact of rising oil prices and the war continues to put pressure on energy prices. The executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, said this Thursday that Europe has “maybe six weeks, give or take, of aviation fuel”.
In Venezuela, Spanish Repsol announced an agreement with the government and state-owned PDVSA to resume operational control of assets in the country, paving the way for increasing oil production.
| How the war in Iran affected the market | |||
| Active | Price 02/27 | Price 04/16 | Variation (%) |
| WTI Oil (US$) | 67,02 | 92,38 | 37,84% |
| Brent Oil (US$) | 72,48 | 89,19 | 23,05% |
| Ibovespa (points) | 188.787 | 197.738 | 4,74% |
| (R$) | 39,33 | 46,89 | 19,22% |
| S&P 500 (pontos) | 6.878,88 | 7.022,95 | 2,09% |
