Oil prices rise amid fears of supply disruptions

Crude oil prices edged higher on Tuesday amid fears of supply disruption, especially in the wake of the recent US-led military action against the Syrian government.

The international benchmark Brent crude was last trading up 0.5 percent at $71.74 per barrel (bbl), while WTI crude rose 0.6 percent to $66.61/bbl.

“Oil prices were the ultimate beneficiary from a number of geopolitical events that took place over the past few weeks that led to increased volatility in the oil market and making oil the only asset class to scale new highs in 2018,” Kuwait-based KAMCO Research said in a note.

Last week, Brent touched the highest level since 2014, crossing $72-level, amid reports of airstrikes against Syria.

Earlier, oil had received a boost as the US and China faced-off in efforts to restrict flow of goods and services between the two countries by way of tariff impositions, the note said.

“The market is also looking at whether the US and the European Union would re-impose sanctions on Iran with a possible decision sometime in May,” KAMCO Research said.

“(This) has the potential to result in supply disruptions in the oil market.”

The oil market in general has remained well supported this year as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) extended its output-cut agreement until the end of 2018.

The next indicators expected are: the American Petroleum Institute’s weekly US fuel inventory data to be published later today, and the official government data from the US Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.