Saturday, 5 October 2024 02:51 WIB | OIL |MinyakOil,

Oil futures settled higher on Friday, with U.S. and global benchmark prices posting a gain of more than 9% for the week, as tensions in the oil-rich Middle East continued to flare in the wake of Iran’s missile attack on Israel earlier this week.

West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery rose 67 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $74.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, for a 9.1% weekly rise. Based on the front month, prices marked their largest weekly climb since the week that ended March 31, 2023, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

December Brent crude, the global benchmark, climbed 43 cents, or nearly 0.6%, at $78.05 a barrel, for a 9.1% weekly gain — the largest since the week that ended Oct. 7, 2022.

Friday was a “bellwether day since it represents the last time to cover speculative short or long positions ahead of the weekend, and that generally reflects a fertile ground for prices,” said Tom Kloza, the global head of energy analysis at OPIS, which is a subsidiary of MarketWatch publisher Dow Jones, in commentary on the rise in oil prices.

For the week, Brent and WTI each climbed 9.1%. Prices for both grades of crude gained more than 5% on Thursday, pushing them into positive territory for the year. Crude extended gains during that session after reporters asked President Joe Biden if the U.S. would back an Israeli strike on Iranian oil facilities and he replied: “We’re discussing that.”

In a briefing-room appearance at the White House Friday, however, Biden said that if he were Israel, he’d think about alternatives other than striking Iran oil fields.

Source : MarketWatch