Oil futures are moving higher as geopolitical tensions rise

WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) – Oil prices moved higher on Tuesday on the possibility of tight supplies due to an escalation of tensions in the Middle East after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel, aiming to assassinate Hamas chief Hassan Nasrallah and other high-ranking figures. leaders of the group.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures closed $1.66 or about or nearly 2.5% higher at $69.83 per barrel in November.

Brent crude futures settled at $73.56 per barrel, gaining $1.86 or about 2.59%.

According to reports, Iran fired about 180 missiles at Israel. The Israeli military said most of the rockets were intercepted.

“This attack will have consequences,” said Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari. A senior White House official previously told NBC News that the US would help defend Israel and warned Iran that an attack “would have serious consequences.”

Oil prices had fallen earlier in the day as the dollar climbed higher following hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Powell said in remarks prepared Monday at a National Association for Business Economics conference in Nashville, Tennessee, that the risks are two-sided and that the Fed will continue to make interest rate decisions on a meeting-by-meeting basis.

Markets are now awaiting weekly oil reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). API’s report is expected later today, while EIA will release its inventory data on Wednesday morning.

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