Oil continues to rise, Brent tops $89 a barrel for first time since October

Oil prices are continuing to rise today, with North Sea Brent crude topping $89 a barrel for the first time since October. Oil prices are being driven higher by concerns about disruptions to supplies reaching the market as a result of the escalating conflict in the Middle East and continued Ukrainian attacks on energy infrastructure in Russia.

Brent crude climbed as high as $89.08 a barrel today, according to Bloomberg data, but later gave up some of its gains. Shortly after 14:00 CEST, it was up around 1.3 percent, trading near $88.5 a barrel. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was also up around 1.4 percent at the same time, trading just below $85 a barrel.

A Russian oil refinery in the city of Nizhnekamsk was targeted by a Ukrainian drone attack today. Reuters reported that an analysis of images from the attack showed that a primary refining unit was hit; it accounts for around half of the facility’s total production capacity.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi today described Monday’s airstrike on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus as a violation of international law that would not go unanswered. Tehran blamed Israel for the incident on Monday, while Israel, as usual, did not comment on the operation.

Israel is currently waging war in the Gaza Strip against the Iran-backed Palestinian movement Hamas. Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM, said that Iran’s direct involvement could trigger „a conflict across the region with a potential impact on oil supplies“.

Traders are also awaiting Wednesday’s meeting of OPEC+, which comprises the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, led by Russia. The group is expected to keep voluntary production cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day in place until the end of June.

Oil prices in dollars per barrel (about 159 litres):