Africa-Press – Eswatini. Oil prices fell this Monday, with investors taking some profits, after both benchmarks ended last week around 6% higher, due to tensions in the Middle East and refinery failures, which compressed refined product markets.
Brent crude futures fell 82 cents, or about 1%, to $81.37 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 74 cents, also about 1%, to $76.1 per barrel, at 1022 gmt.
Last week, the main forces powering the recovery were persistent threats to shipping in the Red Sea, Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries and the maintenance of American refineries, Tamas Varga of oil broker pvm told Reuters.
According to him, “this has led to scarce product availability, particularly at mid-barrel.”
“These factors have not yet abated – and for that reason, I believe that what we see at the moment is just a setback,” he added.
Logistics disruptions in the Red Sea continued on Monday, with the Yemen-based Houthis saying they were targeting a cargo ship in the Red Sea, which they claimed was American.
Freighter monitors said the Marshall Islands-flagged ship was Greek-owned.
Since November, the Houthis have been attacking cargo ships with drones and missiles, in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. The United States has been conducting retaliatory strikes against Houthi missiles since January.
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