Oil prices spike, with crude oil rates jumping as much as 5 percent and logging the biggest jump since mid-May amid West Asia tensions. Hours after Iran fired ballistic missiles at northern Israel, the Israeli Air Force hit back, striking “military targets belonging to the Iranian terror regime in western and central Iran”, and this has heightened fears of the conflict continuing and there being no signs of easing at the moment.
Brent Crude prices trade towards 98 dollars a barrel and WTI crude prices trade towards 95 dollars a barrel at the time of filing this copy.
Earlier, oil rates were gaining over 2 dollars a barrel after Israel on Sunday launched renewed strikes on Lebanon despite a truce between the two countries, eroding hopes for an end to the wider war and a restart to crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
These gains have reversed most of last week’s losses, when oil prices were easing on hopes of a de-escalation.
Brent Crude futures earlier gained 3.20 dollars or 3.39% to 96.24 dollars a barrel while US crude futures were up $2.87 or 3.17% at $93.41 per barrel earlier.
Crude oil prices have spiked over 50 percent since the West Asia war began. US President Donald Trump reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from further attacks. “It’s not going to have any impact on the deal,” Trump told the Financial Times. “I call the shots. I call all the shots. He doesn’t call the shots” he said as per a Reuters report quoting the US President’s comment to the Financial Times.
India, like all other countries in the Asia Pacific region, has been impacted by high oil prices, global airlines’ body IATA’s Director General Willie Walsh said on Sunday as reported by PTI. With the West Asia tensions persisting, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects the average jet fuel prices to be 70 per cent higher year-on-year, “that will add 100 billion dollars to our collective fuel bill this year,” Walsh said.
Oil Prices Surge 4%: Crude Oil Logs Biggest Jump Since Mid-May On Fresh Iran-Israel Escalation
