(News Bulletin 247) – Oil contracts are showing a sharp rise, boosted by new tensions in the Middle East but also by a decline in reserves in the United States.

Oil prices are yo-yoing, caught between geopolitical tensions and the level of demand for black gold.

On Tuesday, they had returned to almost two-month lows, weighed down by fears about Chinese demand. This Wednesday, the price movement is this time driven by new tensions in the Middle East. And they have gone up another notch in recent hours.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a strike in Tehran, Iran, on Wednesday.

A few hours earlier, a Hezbollah military leader was “eliminated” according to the Israeli army in a strike carried out by its air force on Tuesday evening in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, indicates AFP.

Oil prices rebound sharply

In this tense context, the October contract for a barrel of North Sea Brent jumped 2.9%, back to 80 dollars. The barrel of WTI listed in New York for September soared 3.1% to 77.08 dollars.

Investors will therefore be closely monitoring the nature of the response to these attacks, which is the key to the potential escalation of the conflict and therefore to the evolution of oil prices.

The rise in oil prices is also supported by the publication on Tuesday of a decline in crude reserves in the United States last week. According to the American Petroleum Institute (API), the federation that brings together professionals in the oil sector in the United States, crude stocks have decreased by 4.5 million barrels.

These figures remain to be confirmed by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), whose data is considered more reliable than that provided by the American professional association.

On the Paris Stock Exchange, oil and oil-related stocks are rising. The heavyweight of the Paris stock market, Totalenergies, gained 1%, Vallourec rose 1.3% while Technip Energies gained 2% this Wednesday afternoon.