Crude oil prices rose 9 percent in one week in the international market due to escalation of Iran-Israel-Gaza-Lebanon tensions in the Middle East. Out of this only last Thursday this growth rate was 5 percent.
According to international media reports, the prices of two crude oil brands – Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) – have increased in the past week. As a percentage, Brent crude rose 8 percent and WTI rose 9.1 percent.
This is the first time this year that crude oil prices have jumped this much in just one week. A significant portion of crude oil in the market comes from Iran, according to officials from various organizations that analyze the fuel oil market. Recent tensions between Iran and Israel and the threat of an Israeli attack on Iran’s oil fields are responsible for this sudden jump in the market.
Officials of the UK market analyst company StoneX said that if Israel really targets Iran’s oil infrastructure, the price of crude oil in the international market will immediately increase by 3 to 5 dollars per barrel.
Last Thursday, OPEC Plus, an alliance of oil producing and exporting countries, said in a statement that if Israel attacks Iran’s oil fields, it will naturally stop shipments of Iranian oil to the international market. In that case, even if they can fill this deficit for a while, it will not be possible for the OPEC member states in the long run.
Iran is a member of OPEC Plus. The country sends 3.2 million barrels per day to the international market, which is 3 percent of the total oil market.