2023-12-28T04:40:48+00:00
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/ Oil prices recorded an increase in early Asian trading on Thursday, as ongoing concerns about escalating tensions in the Middle East overshadowed the decline in concerns about disruption to shipping traffic with some international shipping companies announcing a return to the Red Sea route.
Brent crude futures rose 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $79.85 per barrel by 01:33 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures also increased 24 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $74.35 per barrel.
Prices fell by about two percent when contracts were settled yesterday, Wednesday, with the start of the return of major shipping companies to the Red Sea.
The Danish shipping company Maersk announced that it had set dates for dozens of container ships to transit through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea in the coming weeks after calling for a temporary halt to these routes earlier this month against the backdrop of attacks launched by the Yemeni Houthi group allied with Iran.
The market showed little reaction to the rise in US crude inventories last week.