Oil prices recovered close to 1% on Wednesday after the US military launched fresh strikes against Iranian targets, pulling both major benchmarks back from their lowest closes in weeks.
Brent crude futures gained 83 cents, or 0.9%, to $92.29 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate rose 68 cents, or 0.8%, to $88.97. Both contracts had settled Tuesday at their weakest levels since April 17 and May 29 respectively, after a brief pause in the Israel-Iran exchange of fire that followed a call from President Donald Trump.
The new American strikes came in direct response to the overnight shootdown of an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, which Trump had vowed to answer. The escalation complicated his broader push to convert the existing ceasefire into a durable agreement. Tehran has warned it will resume combat operations if Israel continues striking Hezbollah in Lebanon, while Israel has refused to halt its campaign against the Iran-backed group.
A further draw-down in US crude inventories added to the upward pressure on prices, giving traders a supply-side reason to buy alongside the geopolitical risk premium.
