Brent gains amid mounting supply disruption concerns
The front-month ICE Brent contract has gained by $5.08/bbl on the day from Friday, to trade at $105.27/bbl at 09.00 GMT.
IMAGE: Getty Images
Upward pressure:
Brent crude’s price has remained well above $100/bbl as Middle East tensions flared over the weekend.
US forces hit Iranian military bases on the strategic Kharg Island over the weekend, escalating concerns over oil supplies.
Kharg Island handles “more than 80% of Iran’s oil exports,” according to ANZ Bank’s senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes.
Elsewhere, oil loading operations have been suspended at the UAE port of Fujairah after an Iranian drone strike started a fire in the petroleum industrial zone, Reuters reported today citing two sources.
Fujairah exports about 1 million b/d of UAE’s Murban crude oil, the report added.
“Fujairah, linked to Abu Dhabi’s oilfields by pipeline and serving as a major trading point for crude and refined products, plays a crucial role in regional and global energy flows,” Hynes said.
Downward pressure:
The total number of rigs drilling for crude oil in the US rose by one to 412 units last week, according to Baker Hughes.
The US oil rig count is seen as an indicator of future oil production. It reflects how much oil drilling activity is happening or expected to happen in the shale sector.
By Aparupa Mazumder
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