U.S. crude oil rose nearly 1% on Thursday, one day after the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates for the first time in more than four years and as tensions in the Middle East continued to escalate.
The Fed surprised the market on Wednesday with a bigger-than-expected cut of a half percentage point. Oil prices, however, closed slightly lower as rate cuts had largely already been priced in.
Here are Thursday’s energy prices:
- West Texas Intermediate October contract: $71.54 per barrel, up 63 cents, or about 0.9%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil is little changed.
- Brent November contract: $74.37 per barrel, up 72 cents, or about 1%. Year to date, the global benchmark is down 3.5%.
- RBOB Gasoline October contract: $2.035 per gallon, up about 1.2%. Year to date, gasoline is down roughly 3%.
- Natural Gas October contract: $2.261 per thousand cubic feet, down 1%. Year to date, gas is down nearly 10%.
Crude futures are on the rebound again as tensions soar between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia group Hezbollah in Lebanon. Prices are also finding support after U.S. oil stockpiles fell by 1.6 million barrels last week.
Pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded this week, killing dozens and wounding thousands across Lebanon. U.S. officials told NBC News that Israel was behind the pager attack.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday that his country’s focus is shifting from Gaza to the northern border with Lebanon, where some 60,000 Israelis have been evacuated, as a “new phase” of the war begins.
Oil market analysts have warned for months that an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, which until now have traded rocket fire, could force OPEC member Iran to directly intervene, raising the risk of disruptions to Middle East crude oil supplies.