Oil prices end at a 1-week high after U.S. leads strikes against Yemen over Red Sea attacks

Price moves

• West Texas Intermediate crude
  CL00,
  +0.84%
  for February delivery
  CL.1,
  +1.53%

  CLG24
  climbed by 66 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $72.68 a barrel Friday, with prices for the front-month contract down 1.5% for the week, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

• March Brent crude
  BRN00,
  +0.13%

  BRNH24,
  the global benchmark, rose 88 cents, or 1.1%, to $78.29 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, ending down 0.6% for the week. Brent and WTI still settled at their highest prices since Jan. 5.

• February gasoline
  RBG24
  climbed 0.3% to $2.12 a gallon, settling up by 0.7% for the week, while February heating oil
  HOG24
  fell 0.2% to $2.67 a gallon, for a weekly rise of 2.3%.

• Natural gas for February
  NGG24
  rose 7% to end at $3.31 per million British thermal units, for a weekly rise of 14.5%.

Market drivers

Current oil prices do “not reflect a geopolitical risk premium, so prices could rise to over $80 per barrel should tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate,” Rob Thummel, senior portfolio manager and managing director of Tortoise, said in emailed commentary Friday.

U.S. benchmark prices remain below that key price level, but global benchmark crude touched highs above $80 during Friday’s trading.

In a bid to deter further attacks on ships in the Red Sea, U.S. and British forces on Thursday carried out joint strikes on more than a dozen targets in Yemen used by Iranian-backed Houthis.

The Houthi rebels, who began their attacks after war broke out between Israel and Hamas last year, launched their biggest barrage yet of missiles and drones at Red Sea shipping vessels this week. The Red Sea links the Middle East and Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal and the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait, where an estimated $1 trillion of goods pass through each year.

“With one of the most critical oil-supply channels to the West under threat, it is not surprising to see crude prices rising in a dynamic that could create further upside for the price of the barrel should tensions continue to escalate in the Middle East,” said Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActivTrades.

Nonstop attacks on ships have forced detours, including around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, but that requires much longer travel times and incurs higher costs, and many observers are growing concerned about globally supply chains.

Responding to the strikes, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Houthis’ chief negotiator and spokesperson, said the U.S. and Britain were “wrong if they thought that they would deter Yemen from supporting Palestine and Gaza.” Houthi “targeting will continue to affect Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine,” he wrote online.

Commodities Corner: What record crude production says about the long road to U.S. oil independence

Oil prices traded higher in the wake of data Friday showing U.S. wholesale prices fell in December for a third month in a row. Data released Thursday had shown that the rate of inflation over the past year moved up to 3.4% from 3.1% in the prior month.

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Meanwhile, natural-gas futures climbed by nearly 15% for the week, as winter storm forecasts continue to boost the commodity’s demand prospects.

“Natural-gas demand is likely to hit during this cold snap,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group. He said that he expects to see reports of well freeze-offs and that production most likely will fall. Freeze-offs refer to the freezing of a well, which leads to a shutdown.

“We could see record-breaking drawdowns in inventory, especially if the cold weather decides to stay around for a while,” said Flynn.