World oil prices shoot after Israel attacks Iran

The world prices of oil jumped after Israel said he had hit Iran in a dramatic climbing climbing in the Middle East.

The price of the Brent Crude reference point increased more than 10%, reaching its highest level since January, before losing some profits.

Merchants were concerned that a conflict between Iran and Israel could interrupt the supplies from the region rich in energy.

The cost of crude oil affects everything, how much it costs to fill its car to the price of food in the supermarket.

After the initial jump, oil prices decreased a bit. But Brent Crude was still more than 5% higher than Thursday’s closing price, quoting approximately $ 70.60 per barrel.

Despite Friday’s movements, oil prices are even more than 10% lower than where they were at the same point last year. They are also well below the peaks seen at the beginning of 2022 after the invasion of Russia of Ukraine, when the price of crude rose well above $ 100 per barrel.

Shares prices fell in Asia and Europe on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei Actions Index ended 0.9%, while the United Kingdom FTSE index closed 0.39% lower.

Securities markets in the United States also closed. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.79%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.69%.

The so -called “safe shelter” assets, such as gold and the Swiss Franco, obtained profits. Some investors see these assets as more reliable investments in times of uncertainty.

The price of gold reached its highest level for almost two months, increasing 1.2% to $ 3,423.30 per ounce.

After Israel’s attack, the Israeli defense forces (IDF) said Iran had launched around 100 drones to the country.

Analysts have told the BBC that energy merchants will now observe how much the conflict worsens in the next few days.

“It is an explosive situation, although it could be quickly deactivated as we saw in April and October last year, when Israel and Iran hit directly,” said Vandana Hari from Vanda Insights to the BBC.

“It could also be in a bigger war that interrupts the supply of oil in the Middle East,” he added.

Economics Capital Analysts said that if the oil production and export facilities of Iran were attacked, the price of Brent Crude could jump to around $ 80- $ 100 per barrel.

However, they added that such an increase in prices would encourage other oil producers to increase production, which limits the increase in prices and inflation effect.

A spokesman for the car body of the United Kingdom, RAC, Rod Dennis, said it was “too soon” to say what impact the last increase in oil in gasoline prices would have.

“There are two key factors at stake: if wholesale wholesale fuel prices remain in the next few days and, crucially, the type of margin of retailers decide to take,” he said.

In an extreme scenario, Iran could interrupt the supplies of millions of oil barrels per day if it is directed to the infrastructure or sending in the hormuz narrow.

The Strait is one of the most important shipping routes in the world, with approximately a fifth of the oil of the world that passes it.

At any time, there are several dozen oil tankers on their way to the Hormuz Strait, or leaving it, as large oil and gas producers in the Middle East and their customers transport energy from the region.

Limited to the north by Iran and south by Oman and the United Arab Emirates (EAU), the hormuz narrow connects the Gulf with the Arabic Sea.

“What we see now is a very initial risk reaction. But during the next day or two, the market will have to take into account where it could be intensified,” said Saul Kavonic, head of Energy Research of MST Financial.

Additional Katie Silver reports