The prices of oil are moving higher as concerns over the risk of conflict spreading to Middle Eastoffset fears of a possible slowdown American economy amid prospects for delayed rate cuts.
Against this background, Brent crude futures rose 43 cents, or 0.49%, to $88.46 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 41 cents, or 0.50%, to 82.22 dollars per barrel.
“Tensions between Iran and Israel have eased, expected Israeli attacks on Gaza and the risk of conflicts spreading to neighboring countries are supporting oil prices,” said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities Co Ltd.
Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday showed that US crude oil inventories fell unexpectedly last week as exports jumped, while gasoline inventories fell less than expected.
Crude inventories fell 6.4 million barrels to 453.6 million barrels in the week ended April 19, according to the EIA, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a rise of 825,000 barrels.
European natural gas is down 1.14%, at 29.35 euros per megawatt hour.
