The reason behind oil prices increase
Oil prices increased on Thursday, against the backdrop of the tensions in the Middle East, but failed to recoup much of the previous day’s losses following a surprising increase in crude stocks in the United States, the world’s largest oil user.
Brent crude oil futures were up 14 cents, or 0.2 %, at $70.52 per barrel at 04:38 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 18 cents, or 0.3 %, at $68.33 per barrel. On Wednesday, both benchmarks declined by more than $2 a barrel.
The tension is rising
Edward Moya, an analyst at OANDA, stated that with tensions rising between Iran and world powers over last week’s drone attack, it appears that the nuclear deal talks in Vienna will be lengthy and Iran’s sanctions are unlikely to be eased soon.
In the meantime, Israeli media reported that Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes at targets in southern Lebanon yesterday evening, claiming that these strikes are “in response” to the rockets fired earlier.
Yesterday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh described the repeated news of security incidents of ships in the Gulf and the Sea of Oman as “suspicious”.
