Oil prices decline over 1% on easing Red Sea transport disruptions; Brent drops to $78/bbl

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₹6,094 per bbl, having swung between ₹6,068 and ₹6,200 per bbl during the session, against a previous close of ₹6,211 per barrel. -Denmark's Maersk will route almost all container vessels sailing between Asia and Europe through the Suez Canal from now on while diverting only a handful around Africa, a Reuters breakdown of the group's schedule showed on Thursday.

-Major shipping companies, including container giants Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, stopped using Red Sea routes and the Suez Canal earlier this month after Yemen's Houthi militant group began targeting vessels, disrupting global trade. -Israel has escalated its ground war in Gaza sharply since just before Christmas, with Israel's chief of staff Herzi Halevi telling reporters this week that the war would go on "for many months".

-Data from the American Petroleum Institute industry group on Wednesday showed crude stocks rose 1.84 million barrels in the week ended December 22, against estimates from seven analysts polled by Reuters for a drop of 2.7 million barrels. Meanwhile, the growing prospect of interest rate cuts in Europe and the US in 2024 are positive from an oil demand perspective.

Crude oil prices experienced another decline on Wednesday, reversing earlier session gains, as a multi-national task force deployment in the Red Sea and the resumption of shipping traffic weighed on the market, said analysts. Despite the temporary suspension of routes through the Suez Canal and Red Sea earlier this month due to the task force deployment, several dozen container vessels are expected to resume travel in the coming weeks.

The anticipation of increased shipping activity contributed to the slip in crude oil prices, according to Mehta Equities. ‘’Hopes for a Federal