Oil price nears $90 as Israel-Hamas war persists
Brent crude, the international oil price benchmark, has jumped to nearly $90 per barrel as the war between Israel and Hamas continues to raise fears in the energy market.
Brent had surged from about $84 per barrel at the end of last Friday to above $87pb on the news that Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel on Saturday. It rose 3.88 percent to $89.34 as of 11.35 am Nigerian time on Friday.
London-based Capital Economics had earlier this week highlighted three specific risks to regional oil supply.
“The upshot is that the longer the conflict goes on or the more widespread it becomes, the greater these risks will be,” a commodities economist at the firm, Edward Gardner, said in a note.
He said oil prices have risen not because of supply disruption, but the potential for it.
“Israel produces very little crude oil, but risks to production in the wider region are significant. These risks unfortunately become greater the longer the conflict goes on and if any other regional actors become embroiled in it. And they also come at a time when the global oil market already appears to be in a fairly large deficit,” he said.
