•Global crude futures traded around $1/barrel higher Wednesday, remaining on edge after an extremely volatile evening session triggered by a rumor that Iran had fired missiles at US warships. Prices spiked and rose $4-5/b within a few minutes but subsequently fell as the White House denied any such action had taken place.

•At 1121 London time (1021 GMT) the May ICE Brent futures contract changed hands at $65.68/b, up $1.08/b. Late Tuesday evening, after settlement on both ICE Brent and NYMEX WTI futures a rumor circulated that there had been an escalation in Iran tensions with the primary one being that Iran had fired on US warships.

•The initial talk of Iran firing on US warships encouraged a flurry of buying activity pushing May ICE Brent to $69/b and NYMEX WTI to $68.09/b within 20 minutes. Prices, however, fell equally as quickly as the rumor was repudiated by the White House.

Updated: March 28, 2007