Oil prices rise in global market amid increasing Iran-Israel tension

International oil prices rose by $3 a barrel on Friday amid reports of Israel launching missile strikes against Iran, raising fears of escalating geopolitical tensions that could disrupt crude oil shipments. Can.

The price of benchmark Brent crude rose to nearly $90 a barrel, with US West Texas hovering around $85 a barrel.

Brent crude prices fell to around $87 a barrel on Wednesday due to rising US stockpiles and a decline in Chinese demand due to the slowing economy.

US media reports on Friday said Israeli missiles targeted sites in Iran. It is being told that this attack was carried out in response to earlier Iranian drone attacks on Israel.

However, Iran denied reports of the Israeli missile strike and claimed that the explosions heard were due to firing by its air defense systems.

Since India imports more than 85 percent of its crude oil requirement, a sharp rise in global oil prices could increase the country’s oil import bill and weaken the rupee due to large forex outlays.

Cheaper purchases of oil from Russia have helped India reduce its oil import bill by 16 per cent to $132.4 billion for fiscal year 2023-24 from $157.5 billion last year.

The total quantity of oil imported in 2023-24 was 232.5 million metric tonnes (MMT), while in 2022-23 it was 232.7 MMT, which is more or less the same level.