Oil price movement: Brent August futures rose 1.8% to $93.08 per barrel; WTI August futures rose 1.8% to $89.78 per barrel, reversing a roughly 3% decline in the prior session that had taken prices to seven‑week lows.
Geopolitical trigger: The United States launched strikes on Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday after an Iranian drone downed a U.S. Apache helicopter; President Donald Trump called the response “proportional,” while Tehran warned it would answer any further military action.
Supply concerns: The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly one‑fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows; U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright noted vessel traffic and oil exports through the Gulf are improving but remain below normal and could take months to fully recover.
Inventory data: The American Petroleum Institute reported a crude draw of 9.12 million barrels for the previous week, far exceeding the consensus expectation of a 3.4 million‑barrel decline; gasoline inventories fell 1.19 million barrels and distillate stocks rose 1.32 million barrels.
Market expectations: Traders await official U.S. Energy Information Administration inventory figures later on Wednesday for confirmation of the API data.
