The Israel-Hamas war is fuelling fears of a widening supply shortage with oil prices rising on Friday as investors worried about a worsening situation before the end of the year.
At 10:03 am local time (07:03 GMT), the price of benchmark Brent crude oil climbed 1.58% to $89.32 per barrel from the previous trading session on Thursday. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose in price to $84.58 per barrel, up 1.65 per cent from Thursday’s closing price.
The ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel is jeopardising infrastructure and could exacerbate supply shortages predicted for the rest of the year.
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin stated on Thursday that the US military carried out aerial strikes on two sites controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated groups in eastern Syria.
These precision self-defence strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on Oct. 17.
Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder claimed on Thursday that US and coalition forces were attacked at least 12 times in Iraq and four times in Syria between 17 and 26 October. He also confirmed that “approximately 900 troops have subsequently deployed or are in the process of deploying” to the Middle East.
We know that these groups are affiliated with Iran.
