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Oil bounces up on Iran concern after touching one-month low on trade tensions

07 May 2019 03:12 (UTC +04:00)

Oil futures edged higher in volatile trade on Monday as rising tensions between the United States and Iran buoyed prices after they touched a one-month low following U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat that he may raise tariffs on Chinese goods, ONA reports quoting Reuters.

Brent crude futures rose 39 cents to settle at $71.24 a barrel. The global benchmark earlier sank to $68.79 a barrel, its lowest since April 2.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 31 cents to settle at $62.25 a barrel. WTI’s session low was $60.04 a barrel, the weakest since March 29.

Additional buying was sparked after WTI broke through $62 a barrel in early afternoon trade, said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York.

The United States is deploying a carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East to send a clear message to Iran that any attack on U.S. interests or its allies will be met with “unrelenting force,” U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said on Sunday. The development injected a risk premium into the market.

Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said he had approved sending the carrier strike group and bombers to the Middle East because of a “credible threat by Iranian regime forces.”