Brent crude futures rose 1.4% to $78.71 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 1.5% to $74.79 a barrel.
Oil prices rose sharply on Friday, heading for 10% weekly gainsas investors weighed the possibility that a broader conflict in the Middle East could disrupt crude flows after President Biden said the United States was discussing an Israeli attack on Iranian oil facilities.
Crude oil futures Brent They rose 1.4%, to $78.71 a barrel. US crude oil futures West Texas Intermediate They earned 1.5%, $74.79 a barrel.
“Although Iran has ‘saved face’ with its rocket attack on Israel on Tuesday, Fears grow that Israel will attack oil infrastructure in response, which could lead to further retaliation that would drag neighboring states into the conflict,” said Ashley Kelty, an analyst at Panmure Gordon.
The United States is debating whether it would support Israeli strikes on Iranian oil facilities in retaliation for Tehran’s missile attack on Israel.President Joe Biden said Thursday, as the Israeli army attacked Beirut with new airstrikes in its battle against the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Biden said later Thursday that would not negotiate publicly when asked if he had urged Israel not to attack Iran’s oil facilities. Biden’s comments contributed to a 5% rise in oil prices on Thursday, as Israel weighs its options after its arch-foe Iran launched its largest attack in its history on Tuesday.
“The market already had a substantial amount of short positions and a low amount of net length in the market, which left the market prone to upward price spikes“said Alex Hodes, an analyst at StoneX.
Concerns about oil supply, which drove up prices earlier in the week, were also tempered by OPEC’s excess production capacity. and by the fact that the world’s crude oil supply has not yet been disrupted by the unrest in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the Libyan government, based in the east of the country, and the National Oil Corp, based in Tripoli, announced on Thursday the reopening of all oil fields and export terminals after a dispute over central bank leadership is resolvedending a crisis that had sharply reduced oil production.
This would allow the country to more than double its production levels, restoring them to around 1.2 million bpd.
Source: Ambito
