The world continued feeling the heat from the tension in Israel and Gaza as oil prices climbed by 3 per cent on Friday October 27.
Brent futures rose $2.55, or 2.9 per cent, to settle at $90.48 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $2.33, or 2.8 per cent, to settle at $85.54.
Brent’s premium over WTI rose to its highest since March, making it more attractive for energy firms to send ships to the U.S. to pick up crude for export.
For the week, Brent was down about 2 per cent and WTI down about 4 per cent.
Trading was choppy. Early in the session, oil prices soared by more than $2 a barrel after the U.S military struck Iranian targets in Syria.
Then prices briefly turned negative as markets digested various reports on mediation talks between the militant Hamas group and Israel led by Qatar in coordination with the U.S.
“We are at the mercy of the next headline … and I think that’s kind of what we’ve been seeing today with the price swings,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group.
“You’d like to be trading the fundamentals, but you really can’t because you’ve got to be more worried about … what’s going to happen in the Middle East,” Flynn said. “No one wants to be short over the weekend.”
Israeli air and ground forces were stepping up operations in the Gaza Strip amid reports of heavy bombing of the besieged enclave.
A Hamas official, meanwhile, conditioned the release of hostages in Gaza on a ceasefire in Israel’s bombardment of the Palestinian enclave, launched after a deadly Hamas rampage into southern Israel nearly three weeks ago.
Source: Reuters
