Oil Prices Edge Higher As Middle East Tensions Sustain Geopolitical Risk Premium

PUKMEDIA

Oil field.

Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday as security concerns in the Middle East continued to support a geopolitical risk premium in the market, while resilient regional crude exports and a G7 emergency stockpile release eased concerns over supply disruptions.

According to Reuters, Brent crude futures rose 27 cents, or 0.3%, to $100.59 a barrel at around 03:30 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 30 cents, or 0.3%, to $89.73 a barrel.

Data showed that Gulf oil flows, excluding Iran, rose to more than 81% of pre-war levels in September, led by a recovery in Saudi exports despite attacks on the Kingdom’s oil infrastructure and escalating Iranian attacks on regional shipping. Iranian exports, meanwhile, fell to zero amid a US blockade.

Further easing supply concerns, G7 countries agreed on Friday to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude from emergency reserves and pledged to refrain from imposing energy export restrictions following pressure from US President Donald Trump.

However, the ongoing conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen continued to raise concerns about potential disruptions to supplies from the region’s largest oil exporter, amid a stalemate in US-Iran talks.

Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces launched a rapid advance on Monday to retake the coastline around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as far as the city of Mocha. In response, the Houthis said they had attacked key locations in Saudi Arabia, including an Aramco refinery in Rabigh. The claims could not be independently verified immediately.



PUKMEDIA