A barrel of brent-type oil is trading close to the $70 mark these days. That’s the most in the past two months While initially pushing the price upward by resurgent demand, the latest developments in the near East are taking the initiative.
The price of brent crude oil has been up since about mid-April, when it reflected roughly from the $60 level. It is now close to $70. Current developments in the market are mainly due to two key events, which are thousands of kilometres apart. The first is a hacking attack on an oil pipeline in the US that leads to thinning oil and fuel reserves in the market there. The second factor is growing tensions between Palestine and Israel, which have boiled over into conflict with each other. albeit so far at the level of shelling by rockets.
Moreover, the International Energy Agency has previously said it expects oil demand to increase as coronavirus vaccination progresses and the world’s individual economies begin to open up. The key will then be increasing the volume of air traffic, which is not pushing the demand for black gold too upward yet. So it’s possible that oil over $70 a barrel will take a look anytime soon.
