According to Reuters, Oil prices climbed on Monday, Jan 26, morning, building on last week’s 2% increase. The ongoing U.S-Iran conflict has continued to keep traders on edge despite the resumption of operations for Kazakhstan’s main oil export pipeline.
At 0127 GMT, Brent Crude was up 12 cents or 0.18% at $66 per barrel, and WTI Crude was up 14 cents or 0.23% to $61.21 per barrel. The two benchmarks gained at least 2.7% throughout last week, and both ended with their highest closing price since January 14.
A U.S. Carrier Strike Group, along with other military support, will arrive in the Middle East in the coming days. On Thursday, President Trump stated that an “Armada” was headed towards Iran but hoped he wouldn’t have to make use of it, while also urging Tehran neither to kill protesters nor to restart their nuclear program.
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According to an Iranian official on Friday, Iran will consider any form of aggression as an act of war against it, which President Trump said would cause all types of disruptions. “In addition, with this new risk added onto crude prices, many investors are also increasingly risk-averse,” IG Market Analyst Tony Sycamore wrote regarding the U.S. armada confrontation.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium of Kazakhstan announced its loading facilities on the Black Sea have returned to full production capacity following a routine maintenance inspection on its third mooring point on Sunday, after having completed the project late last week.
Meanwhile, in the U.S. Friday, crude oil production decreased sharply due to severe winter weather conditions that impacted virtually all regions of the country; natural gas production also experienced large losses after a historic storm hit much of the Midwest and East Coast.
“The impact of severe winter conditions on oil production has caused a total loss of more than 250,000 barrels/day of crude oil production due to significant production losses in North Dakota, Oklahoma, and portions of Texas,” JPMorgan analysts wrote in an analysis report Friday evening.
