SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Oil prices rose on Monday to their highest in about 13 months as fears of heightened tensions in the Middle East promoted fresh buying.
Brent crude was up $1.20 at $63.63 a barrel at 0547 GMT, the highest since January 22, 2020. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $1.39 to $60.86 a barrel. It touched the highest since January last year.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said late on Sunday that it had intercepted and destroyed an explosive-laden drone fired by the Iran-aligned Houthi group toward the kingdom, raising fears of fresh Middle East tensions.
“An early spike in oil markets was triggered by the news,” Reuters cited Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at commodities broker Fujitomi Co, as saying.
“But the rally was also driven by growing hopes that a U.S. stimulus and easing of lockdowns will boost the economy and fuel demand,” he said.
Oil prices have rallied over recent weeks also as supplies tighten, due largely to production cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied producers in the group OPEC+.
