Oil Prices Rise for 5th Straight Day, with Iran the Main Driver
Oil prices rose about 1% on Wednesday (January 14th), extending their rally for a fifth consecutive session. The market has again added a “risk premium” due to concerns about Iranian supply disruptions in the event of a US attack—and potential retaliation that could harm US interests in the region.
In midday US trading, Brent rose 88 cents (+1.34%) to $66.35 per barrel, while WTI rose 73 cents (+1.19%) to $61.88 per barrel. These gains came despite a signal that would normally weigh on prices: a larger-than-expected increase in US oil stockpiles.
Geopolitically, Iran warned US allies in the Middle East that it could attack US bases on their soil if Washington carried out an attack. A US official also mentioned security measures at several key bases in the region, as regional tensions escalate.
Trump himself on Tuesday urged Iranians to continue protesting and said “help is on the way,” without elaborating. The market sees this situation as opening up two risks simultaneously: the possibility of short-term supply disruptions, and a larger one—a surge in geopolitical premiums if the conflict escalates. Several analysts believe the protests have not yet spread to Iran's main oil-producing regions, so the impact on physical supplies has not been felt significantly, but sentiment has already heated up prices.
On the other hand, the EIA report showed that US oil supplies actually increased. Crude oil stocks rose by 3.4 million barrels to 422.4 million barrels (while the market expected a decrease of 1.7 million barrels).
Gasoline stocks also jumped by 9 million barrels to 251 million barrels (expected an increase of 3.6 million barrels). This data temporarily halted the upward trend, but for now, market attention is clearly still more focused on Iran than on inventory figures. (yds)
Source: Newsmaker.id
