Oil prices rise on Israel-Iran conflict fears and U.S. storm

admin admin | 10-10 16:30

Oil prices rise on Israel-Iran conflict fears and U.S. storm.
Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Thursday on concerns about potential supply disruptions in the Middle East, with Israel planning to strike oil-producer Iran, and on spikes in fuel demand as a major storm barreled into Florida.

Brent crude futures rose 37 cents, or 0.5 % , to USD 76.95 a barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures was up 35 cents, also 0.5 % , at USD 73.59 a barrel at 0034 GMT.

The world's largest oil producer and consumer has been hit by a second major storm, Hurricane Milton, which made landfall on Florida's west coast, spawning tornadoes and threatening surges of seawater.

The storm has already driven up demand for gasoline in the state, with about a quarter of fuel stations selling out of supplies, which has helped support crude prices.

Further underpinning prices, investors remained wary of a potential escalation in tensions between Israel and Iran, with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant promising an Israeli strike against Iran would be "lethal, precise and surprising".

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Israel's plans concerning Iran in a 30-minute call on Wednesday that the White House described as "direct and very productive".

Even with threats to the oil-producing Middle Eastern region top of mind, weak demand continues to underpin the fundamental outlook. The U.S. Energy Information Admnistration (EIA) on Tuesday downgraded its demand forecast for 2025 on weakening economic activity in China and North America.

EIA data on Wednesday showed crude inventories jumped by 5.8 million barrels to 422.7 million barrels last week. That was a bigger build than analysts polled by Reuters had expected, but much lower than estimated on Tuesday by the American Petroleum Institute industry group.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.


ALSO READ

Ola Electric responds to ARAI notice, says prices of S1 X 2 kWh scooter unchanged

Ola Electric provided an invoice dated October 6, showing a INR 5,000 discount given to customers, a...

Hyundai Motor IPO’s off to a slow start

Around 35% of the total shares in the offering are reserved for retail investors, while QIBs and NII...

Under fire, Ola Electric taps EY India to get back on track

Close to a dozen executives from EY came on-board at Ola Electric a few weeks ago on deputation for ...

Tata Motors secures 5-star BNCAP safety ratings for Nexon, Curvv, and EV models in latest crash tests

Tata Curvv.EV BNCAP testTata Motors did it again! Tata Motors has once again secured 5 star rating i...

India needs to step up manufacturing to meet Viksit Bharat goal: Volvo Grp India MD

Volvo Group India Managing Director and President, Kamal Bali. The manufacturing sector is a weak li...

Dollar pullback to help Indian rupee, weak risk appetite to weigh

Investors are now nearly certain that the U.S. Federal Reserve will deliver a 25-basis-point rate cu...