Oil jumped above $87 a barrel, the highest in nearly two years

The cost of Mark Brent crude oil jumped more than 2% to $87.66 per barrel in intraday trading on March 6 - the highest since July 2024, Reuters writes. Futures for WTI oil with delivery in April at the time of publication add 3.86%, the U.S. Mark oil is trading at $84.14 per barrel.

Such dynamics of oil prices are demonstrated against the background of the actual cessation of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz - a narrow waterway off the coast of Iran, through which passes about 25% of all marine world oil supplies. And also - warnings of the Qatari authorities that against the background of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, all energy exporting countries of the Persian Gulf may stop production within a few weeks, which will lead to a rise in prices for Brent to $150 per barrel, writes the Financial Times.

Over the past week, Brent futures have already risen 20 percent; WTI crude has jumped more than 25 percent, Reuters calculated - for the oil market, this could be the biggest weekly gain since 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine (oil prices then jumped above $100 a barrel). "It's important to put this move in context: despite the nearly 20 percent jump in oil prices this month, the [oil] price is currently just $3.4 above its average level over the past four years," IG analyst Tony Sycamore commented to Reuters on March 6.

At the beginning of trading on March 6, oil prices fell by more than 1% at a time, as market participants reacted to the statements made the day before by the White House representative that the U.S. Treasury Department is preparing to announce measures to combat the rise in energy prices caused by the conflict in the Middle East. However, the U.S. authorities have not yet presented a concrete plan in this regard.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor