New York. Oil prices rose this Friday after reports that Iran is preparing a retaliatory attack against Israel from Iraq in the coming days, but record production in the United States cushioned the rise in prices.
The European benchmark Brent added 29 cents to $73.10 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil rose 23 cents to $69.49.
Brent recorded a weekly drop of around 4 percent while WTI fell around 3 percent.
For its part, Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) did not publish a price for the Mexican mixture. On Wednesday, the last day of publication this week, Mexican crude oil ended at $63.60 per barrel, according to the oil company’s price.
During the session, Brent and WTI reached 74.94 and 71.45 dollars, respectively.
Investors reacted to Thursday’s Iranian warning against Israel, when a senior adviser to the country’s supreme guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced that they would give a “relentless” response to Saturday’s Israeli attack on military facilities in Iran, according to local media.
The US news website Axios reported on Thursday that Israeli intelligence suggests Iran is preparing to attack Israel from Iraq in the coming days, citing two unnamed Israeli sources.
The risk that Iraq, a major oil producer, would be dragged into the conflict, boosted oil prices.
“Any additional response by Iran could be moderate, similar to Israel’s limited attack last weekend, therefore primarily as a show of force rather than an invitation to open war,” the SEB analyst said. Research, Ole Hvalbye, cited by Reuters.
The two countries have been engaged in a series of attacks as part of the war in the Middle East triggered by the fighting in Gaza. Previous Iranian airstrikes against Israel, on October 1 and in April, were mostly repelled, with minor damage.
Oil prices were also supported by expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) could delay a month or more of the crude production increase planned for December, due to concerns about weak demand and increase in supply. The decision could be made next week.
The uncertainty about the elections in the United States also has the market expectant. “If we go by the headlines, prices should be higher. (…) But we don’t know if there will be a landslide victory or a contested election” and “all these things have people (operators) waiting,” Phil Flynn, of Price Futures Group, told AFP.
For its part, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said this week that drilling companies extracted a record 13.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil from the ground. The EIA also said this week that production in August hit a record 13.4 million bpd, and has said annual output is on track for a record 13.2 million bpd in 2024 and 13.5 million bpd in 2025.
(With editorial information)
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