Oil prices are rising on global markets: key factors
18 May 10:14
Oil prices continue to rise on Monday morning following a significant surge last week, as traders fear a new escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. This is reported by "Komersant Ukrainian", citing Interfax-Ukraine.
As of 8:10 a.m., the price of July Brent futures on the London ICE Futures exchange rose by $1.8 (1.65%) to $111.06 per barrel. Last Friday, this contract rose by $3.54 (3.35%) to $109.26 per barrel.
WTI crude oil futures for June on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) have risen by $2.11 (2%) to $107.53 per barrel so far today. At the close of the previous session, the price of these contracts rose by 4.25% (4.2%) to $105.42 per barrel.
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Over the past week, Brent rose in price by 7.8%, and WTI by 10.5%, amid uncertainty surrounding peace talks between the U.S. and Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump discussed next steps regarding Iranduring a meeting with senior members of his national security team on Saturday, CNN reports, citing informed sources. The network does not report what decisions were made during the meeting, but notes that Trump has recently shown increasing impatience with how Tehran is conducting diplomatic negotiations and is taking the possibility of resuming major military operations in Iran more seriously.
Earlier, the president stated in a phone call with Axios that, in his opinion, Iran wants to reach a deal, and he is awaiting an updated Iranian proposal that will be better than the previous one.
“We want to make a deal. They’re not where we’d like them to be. They’re going to have to get there, or they’re going to suffer greatly, and they don’t want that,” Trump said. According to him, the U.S. will strike Iran “much harder than before” if Tehran does not come up with a better proposal.
For its part, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is ready to disable all U.S. bases in the southern Persian Gulf amid a prolonged U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian media report.
“In the near future, all U.S. military bases in the southern part of the Persian Gulf will be deactivated,” media outlets quote IRGC spokesman Ibrahim Zolfaghari as saying.
“The tone of statements from the U.S. and Iran has once again become more confrontational,” Commerzbank analysts wrote. “The ceasefire continues, but hopes for a quick reopening of the Strait of Hormuz have not been realized.”
Meanwhile, a drone strike caused a fire near the Barakah nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi (UAE), the Abu Dhabi Media Affairs Department reported. “The incident did not affect radiation safety or the facility’s core operations,” the statement said. The Barakah Nuclear Power Plant is the first nuclear power plant in the Arab world and the only one in the country; it provides about 25% of the UAE’s electricity and is considered one of the most strategically important energy facilities in the Persian Gulf.
Meanwhile, data from oilfield services company Baker Hughes showed that over the past week, the number of active oil rigs in the U.S. increased by five to 415. The number of gas rigs decreased by one to 128.
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