Oil prices show steepest rise since 2020, Brent jumps to $90
Kyiv • UNN
Oil prices showed their strongest weekly gain since spring 2020 due to the conflict in the Middle East, which halted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent futures rose by 24%, and WTI by almost 30%.
On Friday, oil prices showed their strongest weekly gain since the exceptional volatility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020, as the conflict in the Middle East led to a halt in shipping and energy exports through the vital Strait of Hormuz, UNN reports, citing Reuters.
Details
Brent crude futures rose 24% this week, the biggest jump since May 2020, when a record OPEC+ production cut deal helped recovery from pandemic lows. West Texas Intermediate crude rose nearly 30%, its biggest gain since April 2020.
On Friday, Brent continued its rally, rising $4.59, or 5.4%, to $90 a barrel by 13:53 GMT (15:53 Kyiv time). WTI rose $6.45, or 8%, to $87.46.
Oil at $150?
Qatar's energy minister told the Financial Times that he expects exports from all Persian Gulf countries to cease within weeks, which he said could lead to oil prices falling to $150 a barrel, according to an interview published on Friday.
The sharp rise in oil prices began after the US and Israel struck Iran on Saturday, prompting Tehran to halt tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Typically, about 20% of the world's oil demand passes through this waterway daily. With the strait effectively closed for seven days, this means that about 140 million barrels of oil - roughly 1.4 days of global demand - could not reach the market.
The conflict has spread to key Middle Eastern energy producers, disrupting production and forcing the shutdown of refineries and LNG facilities.
"Every day the strait remains closed, prices will rise," said Giovanni Staunovo, a commodity analyst at UBS. "The market thought Trump might back down at some point because he doesn't want high oil prices, but the longer this goes on, the clearer the risk becomes."
US President Donald Trump, in an exclusive interview with Reuters on Thursday, said he was not concerned about rising gasoline prices in the US related to the conflict, saying, "If they go up, they go up," and that his priority was the US military operation.
A White House official said the US Treasury Department is expected to announce measures to combat rising energy prices due to the conflict, which earlier on Friday briefly caused prices to fall by more than 1%.
The price drop narrowed after Bloomberg reported that the Trump administration had so far ruled out the possibility of the Treasury Department using oil futures trading.
On Thursday, the US Treasury Department granted companies exemptions to buy sanctioned Russian oil stored on tankers to ease supply restrictions that had forced Asian refineries to cut fuel processing.
The first exemptions were granted to Indian refineries, which have since purchased millions of barrels of Russian oil, relieving months of pressure from them to stop buying.
According to Kpler, a vessel tracking company, there are about 30 million barrels of Russian oil in the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, and Singapore Strait, including floating storage volumes.