2024-04-20 14:25:48
There is a risk of an escalation of the conflict between Iran and Israel in the Middle East. The result: rising oil prices.
The news situation is still unclear, but the markets are already reacting to reports of an attack in Iran: oil prices rose significantly on Friday. After a sharp price jump during the night, prices gave up some of their gains in the morning.
In the morning, a barrel (159 liters) of North Sea Brent for delivery in June cost 88.66 US dollars. That was $1.55 more than the day before. During the night the price temporarily climbed above the $90 mark. The price of a barrel of US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in May rose by $1.80 to $84.53.
US media had consistently reported that Israel had attacked Iran. The price of Brent oil from the North Sea then rose by almost four dollars per barrel and was temporarily above the $90 mark. However, Iran’s state media rejected the reports of missile attacks. The state news agency Irna reported that it was not a widespread attack. There were no reports of damage, it said.
Last weekend, Iran launched a massive attack on Israel. Israel’s reaction was a long time coming. In addition, an unexpectedly strong increase in US oil reserves also caused oil prices to move. After some strong price movements since Monday, oil prices were recently slightly lower than at the beginning of the week and Friday last week.