Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Monday after Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on Sunday, raising concerns that the escalating fighting could trigger a wider regional conflict and disrupt oil exports from the Middle East.
Brent crude futures rose $1.70, or 2.3%, to $75.93 a barrel by 2253 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.62, or 2.2%, to $74.60. Oil prices had jumped more than $4 earlier in the session.
Both benchmarks closed 7% higher on Friday, after jumping more than 13% during the session to their highest since January.
The latest attacks between Israel and Iran have resulted in civilian casualties and raised fears of a wider regional conflict, with both militaries urging civilians on opposing sides to take precautions against further attacks.
The latest developments have raised concerns about disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane.
About a fifth of the world's total oil consumption passes through the strait, or about 18 to 19 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil, condensate and fuel.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he hoped Israel and Iran could broker a ceasefire, but said sometimes countries have to fight first. Trump said the U.S. would continue to support Israel but declined to say whether he had asked the U.S. ally to halt its attacks on Iran.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he hoped a meeting of Group of Seven leaders meeting in Canada on Sunday would reach a deal to help resolve the conflict and prevent it from escalating. Meanwhile, Iran has told mediators Qatar and Oman that it is not open to negotiating a ceasefire while under Israeli attack, an official briefed on the communications told Reuters on Sunday, as the two foes launched fresh attacks and raised fears of a wider conflict.
Iran, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, currently produces about 3.3 million barrels of oil per day, and exports more than 2 million barrels of oil and fuel per day.
The spare capacity of OPEC and its allies, including Russia, to pump more oil to offset any disruptions is roughly equal to Iran's output, analysts and OPEC watchers say. (alg)
Source: Reuters
Oil prices edged lower on Friday and were poised for the steepest weekly losses since late June on reports of a deal between U.S. and Russia, and a tariff-hit economic outlook. Brent crude futures we...
Oil steadied after a run of declines, as traders await US President Donald Trump's next moves to halt the war in Ukraine after he announced tariffs on India this week for taking Russian oil. Bre...
Oil prices were stable on Friday but poised for the steepest weekly losses since late June on a tariff-hit economic outlook and a potential meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian coun...
Oil prices headed for their longest decline since 2021, as traders judged that US efforts to end the war in Ukraine would not impact overall supply, even as Washington punished India for taking Moscow...
Oil headed for its biggest weekly drop since June, as traders assessed that US efforts to end the war in Ukraine would not impact supplies, even as Washington imposed sanctions on India for importing ...
The EUR/USD consolidates near the week's highs, shy of testing the 1.1700 figure on a week in whichthe US Dollar is poised to finish the week with over 1.84% losses against its peers. The hangover of last week's US Nonfarm Payroll figures, and...
The Australian Dollar (AUD) is consolidating gains against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday, buoyed by weakness in the Greenback amid growing expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates in September, following soft labor market...
US stocks closed higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 up 0.8%, and the Nasdaq climbing nearly 1%, while the Dow gaining 206 points. Technology shares, led by Apple which surged 4.2% following its announcement of a $600 billion US investment plan...
European stocks closed firmly higher to record sharp gains in the first week of August as markets continued to assess the outlook of the European...
Both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 rose 0.2% on Friday, putting them on track to close the week with strong gains of 3.3%, their best performance since...
The European stock markets closed mostly higher in Thursday trading as the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.92%, Germany's DAX climbed 1.12%, the FTSE 100...
The Federal Reserve is seen as more likely to slash interest rates at its upcoming policy meeting in September following President Donald Trump's...