Oil prices rise after Iranian general killed in US mission

Following the US mission that assassinated the top Iranian military commander in Iraq last Friday, oil prices reached their highest level in three months. The concern is that escalating conflicts in the region could affect global oil supplies.

Brent crude was up $ 1.82, or 2.75%, to $ 68.07 a barrel at 2:36 pm EDT, after hitting $ 69.50 in the trading session, its highest level since mid September, when Saudi Arabia’s oil installations were attacked.

US oil rose $ 1.35, or 2.21%, to $ 62.53 a barrel. The session high was $ 64.09, its highest level since April 2019.

In a note, UBS Global Wealth Management Investment Director Mark Haefele said: “If the situation got worse and oil supplies were disrupted, this could have broad economic and financial market impacts through a sharp rise in oil prices. However, spare capacity in the industry remains adequate (OPEC and Russia’s unused capacity is around 3.3 million barrels per day). And we still expect market oversupply in 2020.”

Iraq, the second largest petroleum producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), exports about 3.4 million barrels of crude oil per day.

Source: Reuters

Sharing is caring!