Oil jumps 3% amid US-Iran tension

LONDON: Oil rose by more than 3% to above $63 a barrel on Thursday after Iran shot down a US military drone, raising fears of a military confrontation between Tehran and Washington. Expectations that the US Federal Reserve could cut interest rates at its next meeting, stimulating growth in the world’s largest oil-consuming country, and a drop in US crude inventories, also provided support to prices. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up $1.40 at $63.22 a barrel at 1035 GMT, having earlier risen 3.3% to $63.88. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.54 to $55.30. “The risk of a military conflict in the Middle East has risen because of a ratcheting up of tensions between the United States and Iran,” said Abhishek Kumar of Interfax Energy in London. “Elsewhere, the US Federal Reserve has signalled its willingness to loosen monetary policy over the coming months, which is being perceived as favourable to oil demand.”  

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2019.

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