" Middle East tensions push oil prices up "

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Crude oil prices increased on Tuesday as tensions in the Middle East continued to spur concerns.

As of 1110 hours GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, gained $0.52 (+0.63 percent) to reach $82.73 a barrel. Similarly, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the main oil benchmark for North America, went up by $0.43 (+0.55 percent) to $78.36 a barrel.

On the other hand, the price of Arab Light increased by $0.99 (+1.2 percent) to reach $83.73 a barrel. Similarly, the price of Russian Sokol increased by $0.98 (+1.3 percent) to $76.10. Following suit, the price for Opec Basket inched up to $83.08 a barrel with an uptick of $0.37 (+0.45 percent).

Both global benchmarks ended last week lower on bearish Chinese data that signalled weaker demand in the world’s leading crude importer. Brent ended last week lower by 1.78 percent. Brent fell to $82.08 a barrel from $83.57 a barrel, showing a decrease of $1.49 on a week-on-week (WoW) basis. WTI also closed last week lower to $78.01 from $79.97 a barrel, registering a weekly decrease of $1.96 (-2.45 percent).

Hopes of a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas have faded, with negotiations deadlocked in Cairo while the conflict threatens to widen as Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah continue to exchange fire.

Though the Gaza conflict has not led to significant oil supply disruptions, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November in a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians. Airstrikes attributed to a US-British coalition hit port cities and small towns in western Yemen on Monday and the Houthis said on Tuesday that they had fired missiles at what they described as a US ship in the Red Sea.

Earlier, several members of the Opec+ group oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait, will extend oil output cuts as part of efforts to support market balance and stability. In total, Opec+ members are extending additional voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day to the end of second quarter, the Opec secretariat said in a statement. Saudi Arabia will extend its voluntary cut of one million bpd through to the end of the second quarter of 2024. The UAE will extend its additional voluntary cut of 163,000 bpd for the second quarter of 2024.

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