Oil prices rebound sharply after Wednesday's decline amid supply concerns

Oil prices are rising sharply again after Wednesday's decline, with concerns persisting in the market about a longer-term disruption to supplies due to the conflict in the Middle East. North Sea Brent crude was up nearly five percent at around 13:20 CET, trading close to 107 dollars per barrel. Shortly beforehand, it had climbed to almost 108 USD per barrel.

The price of US light crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up by more than four percent, standing slightly above 94 USD per barrel. On Wednesday, Brent and WTI prices fell by more than two percent.

The conflict in the Middle East, triggered by US-Israeli attacks on Iran in late February, has led to a sharp rise in energy product prices on global markets. It has brought shipping through the strategically important Strait of Hormuz to a standstill, a route normally used for about a fifth of global oil and gas supplies.

US President Donald Trump insists that Iran's leadership is negotiating with his administration to end the war. In a post on his Truth Social network today, he wrote that Iran was begging for a deal with the US. Tehran, however, denies holding talks with the US. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the United States would launch even more forceful strikes on Iran if the country did not acknowledge its military defeat.

"Continued military escalation, together with limited tanker traffic (in the Strait of Hormuz) under strict Iranian conditions, continues to create tension in global energy markets," one analyst at MUFG said, according to Reuters.

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