Singapore May 7 2024: Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday after Israel struck Rafah in Gaza, while negotiations for a ceasefire with Hamas continued without resolution.
Brent crude futures were up 23 cents, or 0.28%, at $83.56 per barrel at 0400 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 24 cents, or 0.31%, to $78.72 a barrel.
“Oil prices opened up this morning, with some roadblocks in the ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas leading market participants to price for geopolitical tensions to potentially drag for longer,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG.
Market participants will be looking ahead to upcoming U.S. crude inventories data releases, Yeap added.
U.S. crude oil and product stockpiles were expected to have fallen last week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday. The crude inventories could have on average fallen by about 1.2 million barrels in the week to May 3, based on analyst forecasts.
Oil prices had settled higher on Monday, partially reversing last week’s declines. Both contracts had posted the steepest weekly losses in three months as the market focused on weak U.S. jobs data and the possible timing of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut.
