Oil futures were little changed in early action Tuesday, steadying after ending the previous session around two-week highs after attacks on ships in the Red Sea stoked worries over potential supply disruptions.
Price action
-
West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery
CL.1,
-0.12%CLF24,
-0.12%
was up 1 cent at $72.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. -
February Brent crude
BRN00,
-0.13%BRNG24,
-0.13%,
the global benchmark, rose 8 cents, or 0.1%, to $78.03 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
Market drivers
Brent and WTI closed Monday at their highest since Dec. 4, finding support after oil major BP PLC
BP,
+0.89%
BP,
-0.90%
said it was temporarily suspending shipments through the Red Sea. Several shipping companies had previously announced they would pause shipments due to a series of drone and missile attacks by Houthi rebels, who largely control Yemen, since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
Read: Attacks in the Red Sea add to global shipping woes
Crude prices had risen modestly after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel on fears of a wider conflict, but soon gave up those gains to trade at roughly six-month lows early last week before seeing a modest bounce.
The BP announcement on Monday “briefly sparked panic about a major disruption to global supply,” said Raffi Boyadjian, lead investment analyst at XM, in a note. “However, with U.S. warships already in the region to fend off the attacks, it seems that markets aren’t too worried about a further escalation and oil prices are steadier today, easing from yesterday’s two-week highs.”
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