(News Bulletin 247) – Both Brent and WTI are moving sharply higher this Friday, with the market fearing that the conflict between Israel and Hamas will spread to the Middle East and thus have an impact on oil-producing countries.

Oil prices are clearly rising again this Friday. Around 2:40 p.m., the December contract on North Sea Brent advanced 4.2% to $89.61 per barrel while the November contract listed in New York gained 4.4% to $86.55 per barrel.

Black gold prices are supported by fears that the conflict between Israel and Hamas will spread to neighboring countries, with potential repercussions for producing countries. Attention is focused in particular on Iran, the main donor and arms supplier to Hamas.

Iranian leaders have repeatedly asserted that they had no involvement in Saturday’s Hamas attack on Israel. On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that early evidence from U.S. intelligence showed that Iran’s political leaders were surprised by the Hamas offensive, leading the United States to doubt that Iran may have played a direct role in planning this attack.

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An “inflammable” context

This Friday, Israel demanded the evacuation to the south of “all civilians” from Gaza City, a measure condemned by the United Nations and rejected by Hamas, AFP reported.

“The flammable context in the Middle East could easily lead to considerable supply shortages (in oil, editor’s note),” explains Tamas Varga, analyst at PVM Energy,” cited by the French press agency.

“For the markets, this increase in violence, with the rhetoric of support for the attack by the Iranian authorities, can only fuel fears about oil supplies, as has unfortunately historically been the case,” said his side on Monday Sebastian Paris Horvitz, of LBPAM. “It is too early to draw conclusions, but in the very short term, it is likely that a premium will be attached to the price of oil, causing it to rise again. Bad news for the world economy,” added -he.