Oil prices climb for third day as fears grow of US strike on Iran
Photo: Global oil prices rise for the third day in a row (Getty Images)
Global oil prices rose 1.5%, continuing their growth for the third day in a row, amid growing fears of a possible US strike on Iran, Reuters reports.
Brent crude futures rose 94 cents, or 1.4%, to $69.34 per barrel. The price of US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 92 cents, or 1.5%, to $64.13 per barrel.
According to Reuters sources, prices are rising as US President Donald Trump has increased pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear program, threatening military strikes. Iran is the fourth-largest oil producer among OPEC member countries, with a production volume of 3.2 million barrels per day.
"The main driver of oil prices remains geopolitical risk premium surrounding Iran and the Middle East, though unplanned outages in Kazakhstan and US (Winter Storm Fern) have had temporary impact as well," says Suvro Sarkar, head of the energy sector group at DBS Bank.
According to him, further geopolitical escalation could push Brent oil prices to $72 per barrel over the next three months.
Oil price dynamics
On January 22, prices for Russia's flagship Urals crude oil, which is purchased by China, fell to an unprecedented low as demand from India declined and competition fell as a result.
Also, on January 23, global oil prices began to rise amid a weak dollar (the lowest rate in the last seven months).
Yesterday, January 28, global oil prices showed growth. The reason for this was concerns about supplies after a winter storm disrupted crude oil production and exports in the US.
