Oil Soars on Biden Remarks About Possible Israeli Retaliation

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Bloomberg, via Yahoo! Finance

Bloomberg
Oil Soars on Biden Remarks About Possible Israeli Retaliation

Antonia Mufarech and Devika Krishna Kumar
Thu, October 3, 2024 at 1:49 PM EDT 3 min read

(Bloomberg) -- Oil surged as the market braced for the possibility that Israel’s retaliation against Iran for its recent missile barrage will include strikes on the country’s oil industry.

West Texas Intermediate soared about 4% to around $73 a barrel after President Joe Biden was asked if he would support Israel striking Iran’s oil facilities. “We’re discussing that,” Biden responded. “I think that would be a little — anyways.” The White House didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment on Biden’s statement. Biden also said he wasn’t expecting Israel’s retaliation to come Thursday. ... Both WTI and global benchmark Brent crude spiked to the highest intraday prices in about a month after the exchange.

The oil market has been transfixed by the latest crisis in the Middle East, which comes after a year of turmoil in which Israel has faced off against Iran and its proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and elsewhere. The region accounts for about a third of global supply, and traders are concerned that the latest escalation could hit flows if energy facilities are attacked or supply routes are blocked.

{snip}

A major strike by Israel on Iran’s export capacity could take 1.5 million barrels of daily supply off the market, Citigroup Inc. analysts including Francesco Martoccia said in a note on Wednesday. If Israel struck minor infrastructure, such as downstream assets, 300,000 to 450,000 barrels of output could be lost, the analysts said.

{snip}

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/oil-climbs-third-day-middle-223658175.html

[Mr.Bill]

1. We have lived without Iran's oil before,

we can do it again.

[NeoConsSuck]

5. Have you thought this through?

Oil could go to $200/barrel if Israel takes out Iranian oil sites. If that happens, gasoline goes to $5.00/gallon, heating oil would go over $4.00 gallon, and inflation would skyrocket. Just before the election. Netanyahu would be handing the election to Trump.

[Mr.Bill]

6. Yeah, gas is already at $5 a gallon in California.

Has been for years. It's not as much of a problem as you may think. 40 million people are currently living with it. We also have some of the most expensive utility rates in the country.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. I have had a WTI spot price graph from MarketWatch in a tab the past couple days

and it is sitting just under $74/bbl, which is obviously higher than the $68 that it was last month, but still not in the hysteria range. It had been in the $70/bbl range during the cross-border hostilities the past couple days.

https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/future/cl.1

[LudwigPastorius]

3. If Benny gets to blow up some shit in Iran, AND jack up gas prices before the election, favoring Trump,...

it's a win/win for him.

[durablend]

4. This is not what we need right now

[GB_RN]

7. Oil Soars?

Since when is a 4% increase, from $70 and change, to $73, soaring? 10% or more, I could get on board with labeling an increase as such. If it keeps increasing over the near term, I could also get behind the label of “soaring.” But 4%. Not so much.