Update prices
By 0600 GMT, crude futures fell Brent $1.31, or 1.6 percent, to $79.62 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $1.29, or 1.7 percent, to $75.85 per barrel, according to Reuters data.
Futures contracts for both crude oil rose by more than three percent yesterday, Monday, to reach their highest levels since late August, which reinforced last week’s rally that saw contracts rise by more than eight percent in the largest weekly gains in more than a year.
Fighting intensified in the Middle East after the Lebanese Hezbollah group fired missiles at… Haifa The third largest city in Israel yesterday, Monday, while Israel appears to be preparing to expand its ground incursion into… South Lebanon One year after the attack launched by Hamas on… Israel Which ignited the ongoing war in Gaza.
Prices began to rise after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel on October 1. Israel vowed to respond and said it was considering its options and considered Iranian oil facilities a potential target.
However, some analysts believe that an attack on Iranian oil infrastructure is unlikely, and noted that oil prices could face significant downward pressure if Israel focuses on any other target.
Analysts at ANZ Bank pointed out on Friday that even if an attack targeted facilities Oil Iran, there are seven million barrels per day of surplus production capacity within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).OPEC) to compensate for the loss of its oil production.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Milton strengthened into a Category 5 storm on its way to the state Florida After it forced at least one oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico in the United States to close yesterday, Monday.
Inventories are expected to rise Oil US crude oil rose by 1.9 million barrels in the week ending October 4, according to a preliminary poll conducted by Reuters. The American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to publish its report on US inventories at 2030 GMT today, Tuesday, followed by the official report from the Energy Information Administration at 1430 GMT tomorrow, Wednesday.
