|
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 46 cents, or 0.63%,
from Friday at $73.14 per barrel. U.S. markets were closed for a
public holiday on Monday.
An escalating conflict in the Middle East, and consequently
increased volatility in oil futures, focused attention on
Tuesday.
"The brief spikes we've seen have highlighted the sensitivity in
the market to events around the Red Sea," said Craig Erlam of
OANDA.
Yemen's Houthi movement said on Monday it will expand its
targets in the Red Sea region to include U.S. ships, and that it
would keep up attacks after U.S.-led strikes in Yemen.
As a result more oil tankers sought to avoid the southern Red
Sea.
Tensions are flaring elsewhere in the region. Iran said on
Tuesday it had launched ballistic missiles at targets in Iraq
and Syria in defence of its sovereignty and to counter
terrorism.
The geopolitical risk premium on oil prices may find a ceiling
unless production is shut in, analysts said.
"In the absence of actual and palpable impact on oil output
prices will remain well-within the current $72-$82 range," PVM
analyst Tamas Varga said in a note.
On the demand side, China's oil refiners are actively seeking
crude oil cargoes for March and April delivery to bolster
inventories in anticipation of stronger demand in the second
half of the year, trade sources told Reuters.
Uncertainty over how China's demand could evolve in the
near-term after the country's central bank left the medium-term
policy rate (MLF) unchanged contributed to lower Brent prices on
Monday.
Investors also await a speech by the U.S. Federal Reserve's
Christopher Waller at 1600 GMT on Tuesday for clues about when
the Fed might begin to cut interest rates.
(Reporting by Robert Harvey, Arathy Somasekhar in Houston and
Trixie Yap in Singapore; Editing by Barbara Lewis)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
