Oil Reverses Course, but Brent Still Hovers Near Its Highest Level Since July 2022
Oil prices reversed direction on Thursday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran was no longer able to enrich uranium or produce ballistic missiles following nearly three weeks of U.S. and Israeli attacks. The comments helped cool the market after an earlier spike driven by fresh strikes on key Middle East energy infrastructure and renewed fears of supply disruption.
Traders also digested a wave of central-bank commentary on the oil shock. The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the Bank of England (BoE) signaled a wait-and-see posture as the war unfolds, suggesting policymakers are cautious about reacting aggressively to what could still be a highly fluid energy-driven inflation impulse.
Brent futures, the global benchmark, jumped as much as 10.9% to $119.11 a barrel early Thursday before steadily paring gains. After Netanyahu’s remarks, the pullback deepened. Brent was last down about 0.8% at $106.54 a barrel at 15:41 ET (19:41 GMT), still hovering near its highest level since late July 2022.
U.S. WTI crude futures had earlier gained as much as 5.2% to $100.44 a barrel, but later turned lower, last down about 1.5% at $94.01 a barrel.
“Iran has no capacity to enrich uranium or make ballistic missiles after 20 days of war,” Netanyahu said at a press conference. He also said Israel acted alone in striking the South Pars field and that President Donald Trump had asked him to refrain from such attacks going forward.
Oil had extended steep gains from the prior session after airstrikes hit South Pars, the Iranian sector of the world’s largest natural-gas deposit. Iran retaliated by striking energy facilities in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, after earlier threatening targets including Saudi Arabia’s Samref and Jubail complexes, the UAE’s Al Hosn gas field, and Qatar’s Ras Laffan refinery.
Trump, in a strongly worded social media post, said the U.S. did not know in advance about Israel’s attack on South Pars and warned Iran against further retaliation. He added that Israel would not strike South Pars again and said the U.S. would “massively blow up” the gas field if Iran escalated further.
Source : Newsmaker.id
