On Monday, March 30, oil prices continued to rise, with Brent heading for a record monthly jump after Yemeni Houthis launched their first attacks on Israel over the weekend, expanding the US-Israeli war against Iran in the Middle East.
It was reported by Ekonomichna Pravda with reference to Reuters.
The report says that Brent futures rose by USD 2.43, or 2.16%, to USD 115 per barrel after rising 4.2% on Friday.
US West Texas Intermediate was trading at USD 101.50 a barrel, adding USD 1.86, or 1.87%, after rising 5.5% in the previous session.
"The market has almost completely rejected the prospect of a negotiated end to the war, despite Trump's statements about ongoing "direct and indirect" contacts with Iran, and is preparing for a sharp escalation in hostilities, which is a positive signal for oil, given the huge uncertainty about the timing and nature of the outcome," said Vandana Hari, founder of Vanda Insights, an analytical company.
US President Donald Trump said the US and Iran were meeting "directly and indirectly" and that Iran's new leaders were "very reasonable," while additional US troops arrived in the region and the Israeli military said on Monday it was attacking Iranian government infrastructure across Tehran.
It is noted that this month Brent has risen by 59%, the sharpest monthly jump and exceeding the growth during the 1990 Gulf War, after the conflict with Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a route through which a fifth of the world's oil and gas supplies pass.
The war, which began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, has spread to the Middle East, with Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen launching their first attacks on Israel since the conflict began on Saturday, heightening concerns about sea lanes around the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea.
"The conflict is no longer centered only in the Persian Gulf and around the Strait of Hormuz, but now extends to the Red Sea and Bab el Mandeb, one of the world's most important narrow sea lanes for the flow of crude oil and petroleum products," JP Morgan analysts led by Natasha Kaneva said in a note.
Saudi oil exports, redirected from the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, reached 4.658 million barrels per day last week, according to data from the analytical company Kpler.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, oil prices rose by more than a dollar per barrel on Thursday, March 26, recovering the losses of the previous session, as the market fears that continued hostilities in the Middle East will further disrupt supplies.
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