Oil prices up almost 2% amid Israeli attacks on Qatar

Oil prices rose approximately 2% after Israeli military carried out a “precise strike” targeting senior leadership of the Hamas in Qatar. Brent crude futures rose 1.97% to $67.32 over its previous close at about 3 p.m. GMT (9 p.m. IST) whilst WTI Crude Futures seeped past the mark and was trading 2.12% high at $63.59.  

The upward rally of oil futures is also being fuelled by members of the OPEC+ agreeing Sunday to increase oil production by a smaller than anticipated 137 thousand barrels per day from the present 1.65 mb/d. S&P Global noted in their recent analysis that several market analysts had expected key producers to hold output flat. 

Israel’s latest strike 

The Israeli Defence Forces and the Israeli Security Forces in a statement confirmed they carried out a “precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas”. They blamed the outfit for the October 7 attacks and for orchestrating recurrent attacks on the West Asian nation.  

In a statement, official spokesperson of the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs Majed Al Ansari condemned the attacks as “cowardly”. “This criminal assault constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms, and poses a serious threat to the security and safety of Qataris and residents in Qatar,” he stated.