Oil
Oil prices settled higher on Friday as some investors covered short positions ahead of the three-day Martin Luther King holiday weekend in the US and lingering worries about a possible US military strike against Iran.
Brent crude futures settled at $64.13, and US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) finished at $59.44. For the week, Brent rose 1.2%, while WTI gained 0.5%.
The US Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was expected to arrive in the Gulf this week after operating in the South China Sea.
Investors are increasingly concerned that any escalation could prompt Iran to attempt to block the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint through which roughly a quarter of global seaborne oil supplies pass.
However, analysts note that expectations of higher global oil supply this year could limit the extent of any geopolitical risk premium in prices.
Gas
Asia spot LNG rose last week on the back of a colder weather outlook that spurred some demand, lifting prices to their highest levels in six weeks.
The average LNG price for February delivery into north-east Asia was $10.10 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), down from $9.50 per mmBtu the week before.
Analysts noticed a rise in Asian spot tenders this week, with Japan’s Kansai and Tohoku Electric seeking one cargo each for February-March delivery ahead of a forecast cold snap in Northeast Asia later this month.
In Europe, the Dutch TTF gas price settled at $12.73 per mmBtu, posting a weekly gain of 31.3% as colder weather returned across the region and accelerated storage withdrawals pushed prices higher.
The near depletion of underground gas storage in some northwestern European countries due to colder weather has driven prices significantly higher relative to Asia.
Related Story
Credit: Source link
