Daniel Ghali, senior commodity strategist at TD Securities, explained that Biden’s comments triggered the price surge. “Geopolitical risks in the Middle East are probably at their highest levels since the Gulf War,” Ghali told CNBC.
Earlier in the session, the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) surged 5.5 percent to an intraday high of $73.99 per barrel. WTI is up about 8 percent this week, heading for its best weekly performance since March 2023.
Thursday’s closing energy prices were as follows:
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West Texas Intermediate’s November contract settled at $73.71 per barrel, up $3.61, or 5.15 percent. Year to date, US crude oil has gained nearly 3 percent.
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Brent’s December contract closed at $77.62 per barrel, up $3.72, or 5.03 percent. The global benchmark has risen nearly 1 percent this year.
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RBOB Gasoline’s November contract ended at $2.0926 per gallon, climbing 5.37 percent. Year to date, gasoline has declined by less than 1 percent.
Claudio Galimberti, chief economist at Rystad Energy, noted that as conflict in the Middle East escalates, the risk of oil supply disruptions grows. However, he said, OPEC+ has significant spare crude capacity that could help mitigate supply concerns.
“This spare capacity is for now preventing runaway prices amid one of the deepest and most pervasive crises in the Middle East in the past four decades,” Galimberti explained in a note to clients.
