Passengers wait for their flights at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv on August 6, 2024, amid regional tensions during the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip.
Gil Cohen-magen | Afp | Getty Images
U.S. crude oil futures held largely steady Thursday, trading above $75 per barrel after two days of gains.
West Texas Intermediate has bounced back after crude inventories fell for the sixth week in a row. The positive demand signal has overshadowed recession fears that pushed the U.S. benchmark to six-month lows earlier in the week.
The oil market is now waiting to see whether Iran will follow through on its threat to strike Israel over the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.
Here are Thursday’s energy prices:
- West Texas Intermediate September contract: $75.15 per barrel, up 8 cents, or 0.1%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil has risen about 4.9%.
- Brent October contract: $78.18 per barrel, up 15 cents, or 0.2%. Year to date, the global benchmark has gained 1.5%.
- RBOB Gasoline September contract: $2.37 per gallon, up nearly 1 cent, or 0.39%. Year to date, gasoline is up 12.5%.
- Natural Gas September contract: $2.06 per thousand cubic feet, down 5 cents, or 2.5%. Year to date, gas is down 18.1%.
Several international airlines have canceled flights to Israel as tensions in the region simmer.
“Oil continues to be a show-me story for geopolitical risk,” Ryan Grabinski, an analyst with Strategas, told clients in a note Wednesday.
“Regardless of the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, particularly with Iran and Israel, there has been no meaningful disruption to the flow of crude oil in the region,” Grabinski wrote.
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