Intermediate Texas oil (WTI) rose this Thursday by 9.72%, to stand at $95.73 per barrel, after the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ordered that the Strait of Hormuz must remain closed. At the end of the session, futures contracts for the month of April added $8.48 to the previous close. The new Iranian leader announced on Thursday in his first message to the nation that the strait "must remain closed." Shortly after, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, General Alireza Tangsiri, confirmed that the Islamic Republic will keep this strategic enclave blocked. Approximately 20% of the world's oil and most strategic minerals pass through the Strait of Hormuz, controlled by Iran. Traffic in the strategic enclave has been practically halted since the bombings against Iran by the United States and Israel began, and the Islamic Republic escalated the conflict to the region. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to attack ships that attempted to cross the passage, and, despite the efforts of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to offer "security" to shipowners, on Thursday his Secretary of Energy stated that the US Navy is not yet ready to escort tankers through the strait, as the head of state had promised.
