WTI crude futures rose past $87 per barrel on Friday, marking a remarkable 5.5% increase for the week, boosted by the ongoing conflict in southern Israel and Gaza, which has significantly heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Iran’s foreign minister warned that Tehran-backed militants could open a new front in Israel’s war against Hamas if the blockade of Gaza continued. On top of that, the US imposed the initial set of sanctions on the owners of tankers transporting Russian oil at prices exceeding the G7’s price cap of $60 per barrel to penalize Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, official data showed that US crude inventories jumped by 10.176 million barrels last week, the most since February, but supply at the storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma dropped.
