Oil prices went up by $3 on Friday because the United States made its sanctions on Russian oil stricter. This raised worries about there not being enough oil in a market that is already tight, especially since predictions say global inventories will decrease in the last part of the year. The primary reason behind this increase was the disruptions and war like situation in Middle Eastern hampering the exports. The weekend attack by the militant Islamist group Hamas on Israel further escalated it. Brent futures went up by $2.88, hitting $88.88 per barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude increased by $2.91, reaching $85.82 a barrel at 1050 GMT. Earlier in the week, both had risen by more than $3. Brent was set for a weekly gain of about 5%, while WTI was expected to climb over 3.5% for the week, building on the momentum from Monday.”(A) geopolitical risk premium still lingers around the corner that is likely to support oil prices in the short-term,” said Kelvin Wong, senior markets analyst at OANDA in Singapore. the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) maintained its forecast for growth in global oil demand.
“Supply-side issues remained the focus in the crude oil market,” noted Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ. He highlighted that oil prices rose during early trading on Friday due to stronger U.S. sanctions enforcement. Hynes added, “Sentiment was also boosted after OPEC said it expects crude stockpiles to slump by 3 (million barrels per day) this quarter. That assumes that there are no further supply disruptions emanating from the Israel-Hamas war.”
