(London) Oil prices rose slightly on Thursday, driven by geopolitical risk in the Middle East and fears of a larger-scale war, offsetting rising U.S. inventories and concerns about demand. .
Around 5:55 a.m. (Eastern time) (11:55 a.m. in Paris), the price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea, for delivery in August, rose 0.60% to $85.76.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery the same month, gained 0.59% to $81.38.
“Without the constant and progressive increase in geopolitical risks in the Middle East”, the prices of the two crude benchmarks could lose ground, estimates John Evans, analyst at PVM Energy.
US crude oil inventories increased by 3.6 million barrels during the week ended June 21, according to figures released Wednesday by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
An increase in crude stocks usually tends to weigh on prices, especially since this increase in reserves came as a surprise: analysts had bet on a significant drop.
The market, however, is counting on an “increase in seasonal demand and continued production cuts by OPEC”, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, underline Energi Danmark analysts.
The group and its OPEC+ allies are expected to maintain its production cuts until September, a factor in supply strain, as are ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
Israel does not want a war against Hezbollah, but has the capacity to bring Lebanon back to the “Stone Age” if necessary, its Defense Minister warned against a backdrop of UN fears of a “potentially” extension. apocalyptic” of the conflict in Gaza.
The war in Gaza has led to an outbreak of violence on the border between Israel and Lebanon, where exchanges of fire are almost daily between the Israeli army and Lebanese Hezbollah, an ally of Palestinian Hamas.
“Turkey has entered the space of diplomatic discussion,” notes Mr. Evans.
“It seems that Israel, which devastated Gaza, is now setting its sights on Lebanon. We see that Western powers support Israel behind the scenes,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. “Netanyahu’s plans to extend the war to the region will lead to a great disaster,” continues Mr. Erdogan.