Oil up 5% on week after swinging on Mideast, US crude build and Russia
Investing.com — “Never a dull moment in the oilfield,” oil services firm Panther says on its website. By that extension, of course, are the oil markets, which seldom go beyond a day, or even hours, without drama.
Friday was one such day. Crude prices jumped 5% — on the way to finishing the week with the same heightened nerves as they began — as the White House announced its first sanctions on companies aiding Russia in selling oil at above the $60 per barrel cap set by the United States and its allies.
In between that and Monday’s 4% rally triggered by Palestine militant group Hamas’ attacks on Israel that ignited the Middle East’s all-new war, the market plunged on the largest US crude stockpile build since February and a new record for production that overwrote the pre-pandemic one.
Prices shot back higher from a combination of the crackdown over Russia’s breach of the G7 price cap on oil — which could worsen the so-called ‘tight oil market’ narrative wired more into the brain of oil traders than anything else — and on the Mullah leadership in Tehran looking eager to jump into the Middle East fray despite both Israel and the United States keeping them at bay for now.
The latest market action “appears to be correlated with Iran making statements supporting Hamas and stating that a “new front“ may open if Israel war crimes continue, while the media is blaming it on tighter sanctions,” observed Scott Sheffield, broker and commentator for oil futures at ICAP (LON:NXGN) in Durham, North Carolina.
Whatever the case, with an hour to settlement, New York-traded WTI, crude for delivery in November was up $4.17, or 5%, to $87.08 per barrel, by 12:45 ET (16:45 GMT) after a session high of $87.41.
London-traded Brent crude for
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