WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After a strong upmove, oil prices fell into the red around noon on Friday, but recovered swiftly to eventually end the day's session moderately higher.
Escalating tensions in the Middle East, raised concerns about supply disruptions and pushed up oil prices.
Data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) that showed a big drop in gasoline inventories in the U.S. last week continued to support oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.62 at $76.84 a barrel, gaining for a fifth straight session. WTI crude futures gained more than 6% in the week.
Brent crude futures were up $0.34 or about 0.4% at $81.97 a barrel a little while ago.
Oil prices climbed higher amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a ceasefire proposal by Hamas.
After the Israelian Prime Minister's decision to reject Hamas' terms for a ceasefire, Israel bombarded the southern city of Rafah on the Egyptian border.
Earlier in the week, the U.S. carried out a strike that killed a commander of the Iran-backed armed group Kataib Hezbollah.
Ukraine launched drone attacks against two oil refineries in southern Russia on Friday, resulting in a fire at the Ilsky refinery.
Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2024 AFX News
