Oil prices rise for third consecutive day amid Middle East tensions
Oil prices continued to climb for a third straight day as rising tensions in the Middle East outpaced concerns about a potential global supply glut.
Global crude benchmark Brent traded above $71 a barrel, after rising by 1.7% over the past two sessions, while West Texas Intermediate neared $68. Israel launched a series of military strikes across Gaza, with the nearly two-month-old ceasefire with Hamas appearing to be quickly falling apart, News.Az reports, citing Bloomberg.
Elsewhere, US President Donald Trump said he would view attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on shipping as equivalent to direct affronts by Iran. Ahead of the latest spike in tensions, which have seen US forces targeting the rebels, his administration had already been tightening sanctions against Tehran.
Crude remains on track for a quarterly loss on a confluence of bearish factors. An escalating global trade war threatens demand, while OPEC and its allies are set to raise production from April. That’s as the global market was already set for a glut, according to the International Energy Agency.
The potential hit to global crude supply as the US clamps down on Iran “could range in the order of 1 million barrels a day, offsetting gains from OPEC as it phases out voluntary production cuts,” ANZ Group Holdings Ltd. analysts Brian Martin and Daniel Hynes said in a note.
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