Oil futures on Tuesday settled at their highest level this month in holiday-thinned trading, as U.S. traders returned from the Christmas break and continued to weigh the potential for significant disruptions to crude supplies as a result of further attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea.
Price action
West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery
CL00,
+2.22%
CL.1,
+2.22%
CLG24,
+2.22%
advanced $2.01, or 2.7%, to end at $75.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its highest settlement since November 30, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
February Brent crude
BRNG24,
-0.48%,
the global benchmark, gained $2, or 2.5%, to settle at $81.07 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. That was also Brent’s highest settlement level since November 30, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
January gasoline
RBF24,
+1.04%
rose 2.82 cents, or 1.3% to finish at $2.1583 a gallon, while January heating oil
HOF24,
-0.08%
was up less than 1 cent, or 0.3%, at $2.6688 a gallon.
January natural gas
NGF24,
-1.72%
dropped 6 cents, or 2.3%, to settle at $2.5500 per million British thermal units.
Market drivers
Oil futures saw choppy trading on Tuesday as U.S. market participants returned from the Christmas holiday, while a number of markets in Europe remained closed Tuesday, making for thin trading conditions.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebel militia claimed responsibility for a missile attack against the container ship MSC Mediterranean Shipping in the Red Sea on Tuesday, and for an attempt to attack Israel with drones.
The reported incidents came a week after the U.S. announced a multinational maritime effort to thwart attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea in response to strikes by the Houthis.
Shipping firm Maersk
MAERSK.A,
+2.62%
MAERSK.B,
+2.77%
on Sunday said it would allow vessels to resume sailing through the Red Sea, thanks to the start of the U.S.-led multinational naval operation. But other major shipping companies have stopped sending vessels through the Red Sea and have imposed surcharges to re-route vessels.
“Oil prices are soaring [on Tuesday], and global supply-chain pressures are increasing in response to Houthi rebels attacking ships in the Red Sea in support of Hamas’ war against Israel,” said José Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers. “While that extra time and fuel requirements have increased shipping costs, it has created increased demand for tankers to compensate for the extra time required to complete deliveries.”
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