Crude oil futures traded higher on Wednesday morning following media reports that Israel is planning to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.
At 9.58 am on Wednesday, July Brent oil futures were at $66.57, up by 1.82 per cent, and July crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $63.24, up by 1.95 per cent.
June crude oil futures were trading at ₹5426 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Wednesday against the previous close of ₹5334, up by 1.72 per cent, and July futures were trading at ₹5393 against the previous close of ₹5310, up by 1.56 per cent.
CNN, which cited unnamed multiple US officials familiar with the latest intelligence, said the US has obtained new intelligence suggesting that Israel is making preparations to strike Iranian nuclear facilities told CNN.
Quoting a person familiar with US intelligence on the issue, the CNN report said the chance of an Israeli strike on an Iranian nuclear facility has gone up significantly in recent months. “The prospect of a Trump-negotiated US-Iran deal that doesn’t remove all of Iran’s uranium makes the chance of a strike more likely,” the report said.
“The heightened worries stem not only from public and private messaging from senior Israeli officials that it is considering such a move, but also from intercepted Israeli communications and observations of Israeli military movements that could suggest an imminent strike,” it said citing multiple sources familiar with the intelligence.
In their Commodities Feed for Wednesday, Warren Patterson, Head of Commodities Strategy of ING Think, and Ewa Manthey, Commodities Strategist, said the oil market spiked in early morning trading on media reports suggesting that Israel could be planning a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Such an escalation would not only put Iranian oil supply at risk, but also in large parts of the broader region, they said. Iran currently produces around 3.35 million barrels a day of crude oil.
Meanwhile, the latest report by the industry body American Petroleum Institute (API) showed an increase in crude oil inventories in the US for the week ending May 16. According to API, crude oil inventories in the US increased by 2.5 million barrels for the week ending May 16. However, market was expecting a decline in US crude oil inventories during the period.
Official data on crude oil inventories, which is expected to be released by the US EIA (Energy Information Administration) later on Wednesday, will give a clear picture on inventory levels in the US for the week ending May 16.
June natural gas futures were trading at ₹319.30 on MCX during the initial hour of trading on Wednesday against the previous close of ₹321.20, down by 0.59 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), June guargum contracts were trading at ₹9870 in the initial hour of trading on Wednesday against the previous close of ₹9897, down by 0.27 per cent.
June turmeric (farmer polished) futures were trading at ₹14626 on NCDEX in the initial hour of trading on Wednesday against the previous close of ₹14646, down by 0.14 per cent.
More Like This
Published on May 21, 2025