Middle East tensions drive oil prices higher, Brent gains nearly 3 percent
Oil prices are rising today due to renewed military strikes between the United States and Iran. Shortly before 8:00 CEST, North Sea Brent crude was up around 2.9 percent, trading near $90.70 per barrel. US light crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was gaining almost 2.8 percent, standing close to $85.70 per barrel.
US forces on Sunday struck two Iranian missile launch facilities on Larak Island, located in the northern part of the Strait of Hormuz. According to Reuters, these were the first known US strikes on Iran since the end of July. Iran's Revolutionary Guards subsequently said they had attacked US bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in retaliation.
The conflict in the Middle East was triggered at the end of February by US-Israeli attacks on Iran. The war has crippled shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which had previously carried around a fifth of global oil supplies.
DBS analyst Suvro Sarkar said he now expects a limited military confrontation between the US and Iran rather than a more prolonged escalation of the conflict. However, he noted that every fresh escalation affects the timetable for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
"We had previously hoped for a return to negotiations on an agreement between the US and Iran by the end of the third quarter, but that now appears less likely. We therefore expect oil prices to remain in the $85 to $95 per barrel range until the situation around the Strait of Hormuz becomes clearer," Sarkar said.
Oil prices in dollars per barrel (around 159 litres)
| EXCHANGE | TYPE | CONTRACT | CURRENT PRICE | PREVIOUS CLOSE |
| London - ICE | Brent | November | 90.69 | 88.10 |
| New York - NYMEX | WTI | October | 85.72 | 83.40 |
Translation disclaimer
This article is a machine translation of the Czech original and has not yet been fully reviewed. In case of any doubt, please refer to the Czech version.
