WTI declines toward $82.00 as traders digest US-Iran developments

• WTI price edges lower to around $82.00 in Tuesday’s early European session. 
• US airstrikes on Iran have entered their tenth consecutive day following the deaths of three US service members.
• Houthi militants in Yemen declared a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $82.00 during the early European trading hours on Tuesday. The WTI declines but remains near multi-week highs as traders continue to assess the developments surrounding the US-Iran conflicts.

US airstrikes on Iran have entered their tenth consecutive day following the deaths of three US service members. US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran would pay for the deaths of three US soldiers, per CNBC. 

The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said that it struck US military targets, including air defence systems in Bahrain and Kuwait. The Iranian military stated that it hit two air defence systems and a radar installation at two different US outposts in Bahrain, as well as missile defence systems and radars and satellite reception systems in Kuwait.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels declared a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia. Houthi’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree said that the rebels “declare a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye’ effective immediately upon the issuance of this statement. Fears of oil supply disruption could boost the WTI price in the near term. 

Traders await the release of the American Petroleum Institute (API) weekly crude oil report, which is due later on Tuesday. A larger-than-expected crude oil inventory draw indicates stronger demand and could lift the WTI price, while a bigger build than estimated signals weaker demand or excess supply, which might undermine the WTI price.