The oil prices They rose more than 1% this Thursday, driven by a rebound in fuel demand due to the llegacy of powerful Hurricane Milton to Florida.
Brent crude futures were up $1.14, or 1.48%, at $77.73 a barrel at 1010 GMT. The futures of West Texas Intermediatee (WTI) rose $1.20, or 1.68%, to $74.43.
In the United States, the world’s largest producer and consumer of oil, Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida, where about a quarter of gas stations ran out of fuel, helping to support crude oil prices.
Prices soared this month after Iran launched more than 180 missiles at Israel on Oct. 1, raising the possibility of retaliation against the Islamic republic’s oil facilities. Since the Jewish State has not yet responded, crude oil benchmarks have fallen again and have remained relatively flat during the week.
But investors remained cautious as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised that any attack on Iran would be “lethal, precise and surprising.”
The president Joe Biden He spoke on Wednesday with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, about Israel’s plans in relation to Iranalthough ANZ analysts said there are growing concerns that Israel’s allies have little influence on its strategy.
Even with threats to the oil-producing Middle East region in the spotlight, demand concerns continue to underpin the fundamental outlook.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday lowered its demand forecast for 2025 due to the weakening of economic activity in China and North America.
EIA data on Wednesday showed crude inventories last week rose more than analysts expected in a Reuters poll.
