Oil Rises Slightly, Middle East Peace Tested
Oil prices rose slightly in trading on Friday (July 3), ahead of the long weekend in the United States. This increase occurred as the market still held cautious hopes for peace efforts in the Middle East between the United States and Iran.
Brent crude rose 17 cents, or 0.24%, to US$72.10 per barrel at 01:55 GMT. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 14 cents, or 0.20%, to US$68.83 per barrel. US markets will be closed on Friday ahead of the US Independence Day holiday on Saturday.
In the previous session, Brent and WTI touched their lowest levels since before the US-Israel war with Iran began in late February. For the week, Brent fell slightly by 0.02%, while WTI rose by 0.12%. This movement was one of the narrowest in recent months.
Analysts believe the market remains optimistic, but cautious. Investors want to believe that peace efforts will persist, but they are still waiting for concrete evidence that energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have truly stabilized.
Several countries have begun increasing production after the Strait of Hormuz reopened more widely. Kuwait's oil production surged to 1.65 million barrels per day in June from 580,000 barrels per day in May. Furthermore, at least five supertankers carrying a total of 10 million barrels of Saudi oil have exited the Strait of Hormuz, while Saudi Aramco is using spot prices to accelerate sales to Asia. (asd)*
Source: Newsmaker.id
