Oil rises over $1

Maersk announced it will divert all vessels away from Red Sea for foreseeable future

LONDON:

Oil prices rose over $1 on Friday as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken prepared to visit the Middle East in an attempt to contain flaring regional tensions as the Israel-Hamas conflict rages.

Brent crude futures were up $1.10, or 1.42%, at $78.69 a barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose $1.45, or 2.01%, to $73.64 by 1551 GMT. Both benchmarks are on track to end the first week of the year higher, having almost recouped their losses from Thursday triggered by hefty increases in US gasoline and distillate stocks. The price rebound serves as “a reminder of the risk that is rooted in ever-growing tension in the Middle East,” said PVM analyst Tamas Varga.

Maersk announced it will divert all vessels away from the Red Sea for the foreseeable future. The risk of escalation on Lebanon’s border is “unfortunately very real”, said a German foreign ministry spokesperson on Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2024.

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