Brent crude exceeds $90 levels
Oil prices jumped by about six percent on Friday, and Brent crude achieved the highest weekly gain since last February, amid investors’ concerns about the possibility of widening tensions in the Middle East.
Contract settlement
Brent crude futures rose $4.89, or 5.69 percent, to $90.89 per barrel at settlement, and Brent crude recorded weekly gains of about 7.2 percent, the largest increase since February.
US crude futures contracts also recorded their best daily performance since the third of last April, at $4.78, or 5.77 percent, to reach $87.69 per barrel upon settlement, and on a weekly basis, Nymex crude futures jumped by 5.6 percent. per barrel.
Both benchmarks recorded their highest daily percentage gains since April.
Events in the Middle East had little impact on global oil and gas supplies, as Israel is not a major oil producer. However, investors and market watchers are assessing how the matter might escalate and what it might mean for supplies from neighboring countries in the world’s largest oil-producing region.
Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji said on Friday that oil prices are expected to reach $100 per barrel due to the current situation in the Middle East, according to the Shana news agency affiliated with the Iranian Oil Ministry.
There are fears that Iranian oil supplies will decline if the United States tightens sanctions on Iranian oil exports due to any role it may play in the conflict.
Oil prices were also boosted by the step taken by the United States on Thursday to impose the first sanctions on the owners of tankers carrying Russian oil at a price higher than the G7 maximum price of $60 per barrel, in an attempt to close loopholes in the mechanism designed to punish Moscow for its war in Ukraine.
Russia is the world’s second-largest oil producer and a major exporter, and heightened US scrutiny of its shipments could reduce supplies.
“The oil market is anticipating that the United States will implement tougher sanctions on both Russia and Iran, which will lead to lower supplies,” said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) this week maintained its forecast for global oil demand growth, citing signs of global economic resilience so far this year, and forecasting further gains in demand in China, the world’s largest oil importer.
In terms of US supplies, drilling companies added four oil rigs this week, the largest weekly increase since March, according to Baker Hughes in its weekly report.
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2023-10-13 19:37:24
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