‘Elevation’ for oil prices as Iran threatens retaliation for US attacks, professor says
ByMark Lammey
Oil prices are likely to remain “elevated” after a US airstrike heightened the prospect of supply disruption from the Middle East, a prominent Aberdeen petro-economist said today.
But current crude market “fundamentals”, which exclude “shock political events”, won’t sustain a Brent price of $70 per barrel, according to Alex Kemp, of Aberdeen University.
Brent, the global benchmark, shot up by as much as 4.4% to $69.16 per barrel following the attack on the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, which killed a top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani.
It was trading at $68.90 per barrel, an increase of 4%, as of 11:45am.
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened “harsh retaliation” as tensions ratcheted up between Washington and Tehran.
The two countries have been at loggerheads over the US’s decision to impose crippling economic sanctions on Iran over the Middle Eastern nation’s nuclear programme.
