By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil prices rose on Friday as the United States took a different approach to contain regional tensions as the Israel-Hamas conflict rages, with Brent crude up by $1.10 or 1.42 per cent to $78.69 a barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude up by $1.45 or 2.01 per cent to $73.64 a barrel.
US Secretary of State, Mr Antony Blinken, arrived in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday and is expected to meet with Turkish President, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Saturday.
His visit is the fourth in the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, and it marks a renewed diplomatic effort regarding the management of Gaza after the war.
This is also a new approach to stop an expansion of the conflict in Gaza to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon, and Red Sea shipping lanes.
Mr Blinken also will reaffirm calls for increased humanitarian aid into Gaza, the US State Department said.
During the weeklong trip, Mr Blinken will visit Israel and the West Bank, in addition to Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
On Thursday, the Houthis detonated an unmanned vessel in the area although they did not target any ships. The detonation came a day after a group of countries led by the US issued a warning that there would be “consequences” unless the attacks stopped.
One of the shipping companies affected by the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, Maersk announced it will divert all vessels away from the Red Sea for the foreseeable future, warning customers of disruptions.
Since November 18, there have been 25 attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, however, oil shipping has not been disrupted but the possibility has had a mild bullish effect on prices, especially coupled with the possibility of the Israel-Gaza war spreading to neighboring countries.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces plan a more targeted approach in Gaza’s north and further pursuit of Hamas leaders in the south, its defence minister said on Thursday.
Investors also watched macroeconomic data for indications of when interest rate cuts might commence, as lower borrowing cuts can spur economic growth and bring higher oil demand.
Eurozone inflation jumped as expected last month, supporting the European Central Bank’s case to keep interest rates at record highs for some time.
Inflation across the 20-nation bloc jumped to 2.9 per cent in December from 2.4 per cent in November.
Dipo Olowookere