LONDON: Oil prices were little changed, staying on track for weekly gains, with tensions persisting in Middle East after Israel rejected ceasefire offer from Hamas. Brent crude futures slipped 6 cents, or 0.1 percent to $ 81.69 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 21 cents, or 0.3 percent to $ 76.43 a barrel.

Prices rose about 3 percent in previous session as Israeli forces bombed southern border city of Rafah on Thursday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected proposal to end war in Palestinian enclave.

Tensions have kept oil prices elevated, with Brent and WTI both set to gain nearly 6 percent for week. “With words that, ‘no part of Gaza Strip would be immune from Israel’s offensive’, it was not hard for oil participants to conclude that without even a passing regard for peace, there was not enough conflict-premium priced in,” PVM analyst John Evans said.

Non-OPEC output from Norway and Guyana is increasing while Russia is exporting more crude in February than it planned under an OPEC+ deal, following combination of drone attacks and technical outages at its refineries. Deflation risks in China, world’s top crude oil importer are weighing on global oil prices, IG analyst Tony Sycamore said.

Published in The Daily National Courier, February, 10 2024

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