Oil prices are rising strongly again. Iran attacks energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf

Oil prices are rising strongly again after previous declines – for the first time in almost a week. Iran has intensified attacks on energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf, and this greatly worries investors around the world, brokers say.

A barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil for IV deliveries costs USD 97.26 on NYMEX in New York – up 4.02%.

Brent on ICE on V is valued at USD 103.74 per barrel, up by USD 3.49, after the price fell by 2.8% on Monday.

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Iran has stepped up attacks on energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf and set fire to large natural gas deposits, putting further pressure on an increasingly tight global fuel supply situation.

Work on the Shah gas field in the United Arab Emirates has been suspended while authorities investigate damage from fires sparked by Monday's drone strikes.

Analysts point out that as the war in the Middle East enters its third week, Iraqi oil fields and a major port from the UAE have also become targets of Iranian drones and missiles.

Tehran's attacks are intensifying at a time when energy consumers – from India to China, Australia, Japan, the US and Europe – are suffering from fuel shortages.

Oil prices have increased by over 40% since the beginning of the war, but on Monday the price of the raw material fell – for the first time in 4 sessions, as the US is preparing to release the first tranche of oil from strategic reserves of this raw material.

“Based on a large number of headlines, there are factors in the markets every day that are causing prices to go up and down,” Rebecca Babin, senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC, told Bloomberg TV.

“We have a market when up to about 100 pieces of information on the conflict in the Middle East are published simultaneously,” she said.

“This causes the market to frantically try to determine how much oil supply is not reaching fuel markets and how long it may take,” she emphasized.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced at dawn on Tuesday that it had launched a wide wave of attacks on targets in Tehran and Beirut. The operation is a reaction to the earlier coordinated missile fire on Israeli territory by Iran and Hezbollah.

The decision to bomb both capitals simultaneously was made after intensifying attacks on the Jewish state.

Both authorities in Tehran and Tehran-sponsored Hezbollah have previously confirmed that their latest missile strikes and offensive actions against Israel were coordinated.

However, in recent days, a channel of direct communication between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi has been re-established, Axios reported on Monday.

It is unknown how significant the messages exchanged between Witkoff and Aragchi were, but this is the first known instance of direct communication between the parties since the beginning of the war.

A U.S. official and a source familiar with the matter said Aragchi sent messages to Witkoff about ending the war.

However, US President Donald Trump has said that he does not want to negotiate with Iran now.

“The president has said he wants to talk, but not at this time because he wants Operation Epic Fury to continue with unabated force,” one U.S. official said.

Some U.S. allies in the Middle East have also told the White House they could help mediate on Iran's nuclear program and potentially ending the war, but their offers have also been rejected for now.

According to sources, the US administration does not want to negotiate for now because it is not convinced that the new supreme leader Modjtab Khamenei is actually in power.

(PAP Business)

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