Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he will make a statement at 8 p.m. Tel Aviv time tonight on a “significant development” regarding the Iranian nuclear pact. (8 p.m. in Tel Aviv is 1 p.m. in New York.) Israeli news sources are saying that the government has obtained documents that government sources say prove Iran has misled the world about its nuclear program.
Oil futures in New York settled at their highest since December 2014. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate climbed 0.35% to close at $68.88 a barrel. International benchmark Brent crude rose 0.88% to $74.71 a barrel. The gains were unusual in that the U.S. dollar strengthened today. But the markets had news of another missile attack on Saudi Arabia–again unsuccessful–by Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Houthis are backed by Iran and Yemen has become a proxy war for power in the Middle East between Iran and Saudi Arabia (and by extension, Russia and the United States.)
West Texas Intermediate climbed 3.16% today to $68.80. Futures for May delivery moved over $68 a barrel for the first time in three years. Yesterday the American Petroleum Institute reported a 1.05 million barrel draw down in U.S. inventories. Today the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a drop in crude inventories of 1.1 million barrels. Energy analysts had projected an increase in inventories for the week ended April 13. But it’s not just near-term supply and demand figures that are pushing oil priced higher.
