Oil Prices Surge on Fresh Middle East Strikes and API Crude Draw

Oil prices spiked in early Asian trade on Wednesday, erasing a significant portion of Tuesday's selloff on the back of renewed hostilities in the Middle East and a bullish U.S. inventory report from the API. At the time of writing, Brent crude had climbed to $87.95 per barrel, up 4.59%, while West Texas Intermediate was trading at $82.89, up 4.58%. Oil prices had been tumbling since the U.S. brought an end to 13 consecutive nights of attacks on Iran last Thursday, with both sides playing up hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough. Those hopes were significantly hindered late on Tuesday when U.S. Central Command CENTCOM reported that Iranian forces launched multiple ballistic missiles at U.S. bases across the Middle East in what it described as a surprise attack. All incoming missiles were successfully intercepted, and no U.S. positions were hit. CENTCOM then reported that the U.S.