Oil Prices Surge amid Escalating Israeli-Iranian Conflict
Oil prices rose sharply in early Asian trading on Monday, driven by renewed attacks between Israel and Iran. The exchange of strikes has heightened concerns that the growing conflict could disrupt critical oil exports from the Middle East, a region that remains essential to global energy supply.
Brent crude futures increased by $1.70, or 2.3%, reaching $75.93 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose by $1.62, or 2.2%, to $74.60. Both benchmarks had surged more than $4 earlier in the session, reflecting the heightened market volatility.
Latest Oil Prices:
WTI Crude • 73.63 +0.65 +0.89%
Brent Crude • 74.79 +0.56 +0.75%
Murban Crude • 74.31 +0.79 +1.07%
Louisiana Light • 71.63 -0.13 -0.18%
Bonny Light • 78.62 -2.30 -2.84%
Opec Basket • 69.15 +1.68 +2.49%
Mars US • 72.21 -1.06 -1.45%
Gasoline • 2.250 +0.022 +1.00%
Natural Gas • 3.680 +0.099 +2.76%
The latest round of attacks between Israel and Iran comes amid fears of a broader regional conflict. Both sides have exchanged fire, resulting in civilian casualties and raising fears of further escalation. Each side has urged civilians to take safety precautions, signaling that more attacks may be imminent.
On Friday, oil prices surged by 7% at settlement, reaching their highest levels since January after rising more than 13% during the session. Experts are now forecasting further price increases, especially with concerns about potential disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for global oil transportation.
The Strait of Hormuz sees the passage of about 18 to 19 million barrels of oil per day, representing around one-fifth of global oil consumption. Any disruption to this critical shipping lane could have severe consequences for both oil prices and global supply chains.
U.S. President Donald Trump expressed hope on Sunday that Israel and Iran might reach a ceasefire, but also stated that sometimes "countries must fight to the end." While the United States has continued to show support for Israel, Trump declined to comment on whether he had asked Israel to halt its strikes on Iran.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz noted that he hopes the upcoming G7 summit in Canada could help find a diplomatic resolution to the conflict and prevent its escalation.
On the other hand, Iran has made it clear to mediators in Qatar and Oman that it is unwilling to negotiate a ceasefire while it is still under attack from Israel.
Iran, a member of OPEC, produces approximately 3.3 million barrels per day of oil, with over 2 million barrels per day of that oil being exported. As the region's tensions escalate, concerns about potential disruptions to Iran's oil output and export capacity grow.
OPEC analysts suggest that the organization, alongside its partners such as Russia, has enough spare production capacity to absorb any short-term disruptions in Iranian oil exports. However, the growing geopolitical tensions continue to put upward pressure on oil prices, with markets remaining volatile and uncertain about the duration of the conflict.
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Trump lands another big win with EU trade deal, but he can't dodge the Epstein saga
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Mystery surrounds the administration's motives after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal lawyer, met last week with Epstein's imprisoned accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. Her lawyer implied that Maxwell was open to a presidential pardon. Trump's record of using such power for political purposes has critics warning he may be seeking a deal that would politicize justice. The storm back home isn't abating. Two lawmakers, one Democrat and the other Republican, vowed Sunday to force a vote on the House floor on the release of Epstein case files. Such a vote could embarrass the administration and create a major political showdown. This came on a typically frenetic weekend that Trump spent in Scotland and that served as a metaphor for his turbulent influence on America and the globe. He juggled the highest-level diplomacy — talks with the EU's top official, Ursula von der Leyen — with a trip promoting his business empire, in this case his portfolio of exclusive Scottish golf clubs. His visit was greeted with street protests by caustic Scots and featured outbursts of extreme rhetoric — including his social media call for the prosecution of former Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump will come face-to-face Monday with pressure to force Israel to do more to mitigate a growing famine in Gaza. He'll see British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at his Turnberry resort in southwest Scotland before traveling with Starmer to Aberdeenshire, where Trump will inaugurate a new course at another club. Starmer last week said of the crisis in Gaza that 'we are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe.' 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Trump believes that this system, which helped make the US a dominant global power, is nevertheless unfair on American workers and industries. And he rejects economists' arguments that raising tariffs increases prices for already-stretched US consumers. Traversing cranes move shipping containers stacked in Hamburg Port in Hamburg, Germany, on April is flexing power everywhere. He is gutting the federal government, dominating Congress, and exerting unprecedented pressure on law firms and universities to impose his right-wing ideology, all while seeking to intimidate media outlets. These are wins for his populist 'Make America Great Again' movement and its program to buckle what supporters see as liberal power. But as with Trump's outlier belief in tariffs, the long-term impacts that his actions could have on American society, the economy and democracy are alarming critics. Trump has politicized the legal system; his government funding cuts have hampered vital scientific research on critical subjects such as cancer; and his expanding of presidential power often tests the Constitution. Still, markets may welcome the EU trade deal framework, assuming it is fully implemented — hardly a given considering Trump's volatile history of threats and reversals. An EU-US trade war would have been a far worse outcome. But the agreement confirms suspicions that Trump's goal is not fairer trade but higher tariffs. Although existing tariffs have so far not harmed the economy as much as some experts feared, Americans will pay more for cars, food, luxuries and consumer goods. The inflationary impact on the economy, and Trump's likely appointment next year of a new Federal Reserve chair who will lower interest rates, could mean greater economic threats to come. There's also an important geopolitical aspect to the EU trade deal. The Europeans committed to buying $880 billion of energy from the US. This could make America's NATO allies less vulnerable to pressure from Russia at a time when the Western alliance is opposing Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. 'We still have too much Russian LNG (liquid natural gas) that is coming through the back door again to our European Union, and some Russian gas and oil still in the European Union, which we do not want anymore,' von der Leyen said. Epstein drama haunts Trump's Scottish golf trip Trump's frustration that a key political achievement has been overshadowed by the Epstein saga is unlikely to dissipate in the coming days. The controversy started because of conspiracy theories among Trump's base that claimed the disgraced financier did not take his own life in prison but was murdered, and that he left behind a client list of rich and powerful Americans who'd taken advantage of his alleged sex trafficking. These claims were promoted by Trump and allies including Pam Bondi and Kash Patel. When all three assumed positions of great power (Bondi is attorney general, and Patel is FBI director), their failure to release the files as promised caused a rupture in Trump's MAGA base, which the administration has failed thus far to repair. The political uproar explains why Blanche's meeting with Maxwell last week caused such consternation. Maxwell's lawyer told reporters after her second day of meetings with Blanche in Tallahassee, Florida, that she had answered every question truthfully and honestly. He also noted that the president has the power to pardon those convicted of crimes. 'We hope he exercises that power in a right and just way,' the attorney, David Oscar Markus, said Friday. Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell attend a benefit concert in New York in 2005. Joe Schildhorn/Blanche has so far not offered a detailed public account of the meetings. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Trump in his relationship with Epstein, and the president appears to have severed the friendship long before the accused sex trafficker was charged with federal crimes. But the Justice Department's unorthodox approach is raising concerns that it goes beyond a public relations effort to convince MAGA voters the administration is doing something. Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison term, has an incentive for providing information that could ease her situation — and Trump has the power to do so. Questions over the president's motives became even more important when CNN and other outlets reported last week that Trump's name was mentioned in the Epstein files, along with those of some other prominent Americans. This does not mean that he or anyone else is guilty of wrongdoing. In fact, Bondi might have made the correct decision legally in refusing to release information that could harm the reputation of people not accused of crimes. But beyond a joint Justice Department and FBI statement on the rationale for not releasing the files, the administration has rarely attempted to justify a policy that has put it at odds with its own supporters in the MAGA movement. 'I'm concerned that the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, is meeting with (Maxwell) supposedly one-on-one,' Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California said on NBC's 'Meet the Press' on Sunday. 'Look, I agree … that she should testify. But she's been indicted twice on perjury. This is why we need the files.' Republican leaders hoped the case might simply disappear over the summer recess. But Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie, a co-sponsor with Khanna of a House bill demanding the release of the files, isn't giving up. 'This is going to hurt Republicans in the midterms. The voters will be apathetic if we don't hold the rich and powerful accountable,' Massie said on NBC. 'I think when we get back, we can get the signatures required to force this to the floor.' The Trump administration has asked the courts to release grand jury testimony pertinent to the Epstein case. But one federal judge refused last week, in a ruling that may have given the DOJ political cover. 'We want them to release the files. However, we can't make them release it because of separation of power,' Oklahoma GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin told Jake Tapper on CNN's 'State of the Union.' That may be the case. But grand jury testimony is believed to be only a fraction of the evidence against Epstein that the government holds — and hasn't made public. And the entire controversy has been worsened by the administration's clumsy approach and unwillingness to confront the anger of the MAGA base. 'I think that part of this problem is that there were some false expectations that are created, and that's a political mistake,' Missouri Republican Rep. Eric Burlison told CNN's Manu Raju.
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