2025-10-09T05:54:30+00:00
Shafaq News
Oil prices fell on Thursday after Israel and Hamas
agreed to the first phase of a plan to end the war in Gaza, easing geopolitical
tension in the Middle East, while the U.S. dollar’s strength weighed on
commodities.
Brent crude futures were down 34 cents, or 0.51%, at
$65.91 a barrel by 0413 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 38 cents,
or 0.61%, to $62.17.
“WTI crude is trading on the weaker side of the
pendulum today due to a reduction in geopolitical risk premium triggered by the
Israel-Hamas peace deal,” OANDA’s senior market analyst Kelvin Wong said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said that Israel and Hamas
had reached a long-sought deal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release under a
plan for ending the two-year-old war in the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he
would convene the government on Thursday to approve the ceasefire agreement.
The war in Gaza has supported oil prices as investors
have weighed the potential risk to global oil supply if the war were to develop
into a wider regional conflict.
Michael McCarthy, CEO of investor platform Moomoo
Australia and New Zealand, said the Gaza ceasefire is unlikely to change oil
supply in the Middle East as OPEC+ has not hit its increased production
targets.
The group, made up of the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, agreed on Sunday to a November output
hike that was smaller than market expectations, easing oversupply concern.
McCarthy also said the U.S. dollar’s strength against
the Japanese yen and euro is generally weighing on commodities.
Dollar-denominated oil has become more expensive for investors holding other
currencies.
Prices had gained around 1% on Wednesday to reach a
one-week high after investors viewed stalled progress on a Ukraine peace deal
as sustaining sanctions against Russia.
Meanwhile, total weekly U.S. petroleum products
supplied, a proxy for U.S. oil consumption, rose last week to 21.990 million
barrels per day, the most since December 2022, showed a report from the Energy
Information Administration on Wednesday.
JP Morgan analysts said global oil demand began on a
softer note in October as numerous consumption indicators, including container
arrivals at the Port of Los Angeles, truck toll mileage in Germany and
container throughput in China, pointed to a moderation in activity.
Global oil demand averaged 105.9 million bpd in the
first seven days of October, expanding by 300,000 bpd from last year’s level
and 90,000 bpd lower than JP Morgan’s estimates, its analysts said in a client
note.
The pace of global crude and products inventory build
has also slowed, expanding by 8 million barrels last week, the slowest increase
in the past five weeks, they said.
(Reuters)
Only the headline is edited by Shafaq News Agency.
