Oil prices rise amid geopolitical tensions

New York, U.S. | Xinhua | Oil prices climbed on Tuesday as investors grew concerned over rising geopolitical tensions.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February delivery added 1.61 U.S. dollars, or 1.9 percent, to settle at 85.43 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery increased 1.03 dollars, or 1.2 percent, to close at 87.51 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

Prices for both WTI and Brent crude marked their highest settlements since Oct. 13, 2014, according to FactSet data.

“Besides tight supply that has been cited for some days now, market participants see growing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East as one of the reasons for the latest upswing,” Carsten Fritsch, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said Tuesday in a note.

“Houthi rebels launched a drone attack on an oil depot in Abu Dhabi yesterday, for example, and have threatened further strikes,” he said.

On Monday, Yemen’s Houthi militia claimed responsibility for a military operation that struck areas inside the United Arab Emirates (UAE), an active member of the Saudi-led military coalition.

The Houthis’ claim was just after three petroleum tankers exploded in a fire near the storage facilities of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in the UAE capital’s Musaffah industrial district.

Last week, the U.S. crude benchmark and Brent jumped 6.2 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively, based on the front-month contracts.

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Xinhua