Oil prices extended gains on Monday, with Brent nearing $80 to build on last week’s steepest weekly jump since early 2023, driven by fears of a wider Middle East conflict and potential disruption to exports from the major oil-producing region.
Brent crude futures rose $1.09, or 1.4%, to $79.14 a barrel by 1316 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up $1.15, or 1.55%, at $75.53. WTI had earlier risen by more than $2.
“Brent crude is back to challenge $80, with activity in the options market showing increased demand for hedging the risk of further gains amid worries about a minor or, in the worst case, major supply disruption from the Middle East,” Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank said in a note.
Brent rose more than 8% last week while WTI soared 9.1% on the possibility that Israel could strike Iranian oil infrastructure in response to Iran’s Oct. 1 missile attack on Israel.
Rockets fired by Iran-backed Hezbollah hit Israel’s third-largest city, Haifa, early on Monday. Israel, meanwhile, looked poised to expand ground incursions into southern Lebanon on the first anniversary of the Gaza war, which has spread conflict across the Middle East.
That spread has raised fears that the United States, Israel’s superpower ally, and arch-foe Iran will be sucked into a wider war.