Oil prices rise more than 1% after Iran seizes British tanker
July 22, 2019973 views0 comments
Oil prices rose on Monday on concerns that Iran’s seizure of a British tanker last week may lead to supply disruptions in the energy-rich Gulf.
Brent crude futures climbed 79 cents, or 1.26%, to $63.26 a barrel by 1225 GMT.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 74 cents, or 1.33%, at $56.37 a barrel.
Last week, WTI fell over 7% and Brent lost more than 6%.
“The events in the Gulf have definitely taken the market into more bullish territory in today’s trading,” said Erik Norland, senior economist at CME Group.
“But that doesn’t mean markets will continue to go higher, and previous incidents in the Gulf haven’t driven up prices much – suggesting that investors’ calculus, rightly or wrongly, is that a war is not very likely.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Friday they had captured a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf in response to Britain’s seizure of an Iranian tanker earlier this month.