BEIJING, Oct 9 – Oil prices rose more than $3 a barrel in early Asian trade on Monday, as dramatic military clashes between Israeli forces and Hamas over the weekend deepened political uncertainty across the Middle East. .
Brent crude LCOc1 rose $3.34, or 3.95%, to $87.92 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 rose $3.44, or 4.16% , at $86.23 a barrel.
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched the largest military attack against Israel in decades on Saturday, killing hundreds of Israelis and sparking a wave of retaliatory Israeli airstrikes on Gaza that continued into Sunday.
The outbreak of violence threatens to derail US efforts to mediate a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, in which the kingdom would normalize ties with Israel in exchange for a defense deal between Washington and Riyadh.
A normalization of Saudi-Israeli relations would likely freeze recent moves toward detente between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
“Growing geopolitical risk in the Middle East should support oil prices…further volatility can be expected,” analysts at ANZ Bank said in a note to clients.
The attacks drew condemnation from Western nations but were openly praised by Iran and Hezbollah, Iran’s allies in Lebanon.
Market attention has focused on the possibility that Iran was involved in the attacks, something that Israeli authorities have already alleged.
“For this conflict to have a lasting and significant impact on oil markets, there must be a sustained reduction in oil supply or transportation,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Vivek Dhar said in a note.
“If Western countries officially link Iranian intelligence to the Hamas attack, then Iran’s oil supply and exports will face imminent risks of decline,” Dhar said.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn