Brent up slightly; WTI crude surpasses $84

Oil drilling rigs

Brent crude prices rose slightly during trading today, March 11, approaching $88 a barrel. This followed a report that the International Energy Agency (IEA) proposed to draw down a record amount of reserves to counter rising prices caused by the war with Iran.

Brent crude was trading up 0.22% at $87.99 a barrel, at 08:53 am Makkah time. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 0.98% to $84.25 a barrel.

Charu Chanana, Chief Investment Strategist at Saxo Markets in Singapore, believes that a possible IEA decision would be both a safety valve and a warning signal. Bloomberg reported that the IEA could temporarily increase supply and reduce panic, but it also alerts the market that the risk of disruption is significant enough to warrant emergency measures.

This comes after oil prices fell yesterday amid conflicting statements from the Trump administration regarding the war and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright mistakenly posted and then deleted a statement that the US Navy had escorted an oil tanker through the strait near Iran, with the White House later admitting that no such operation had taken place.