Oil holds near US$92 with Israel seen holding off invasion for now
BNN Bloomberg
Oil was steady as talks over hostage releases were said to potentially delay a ground invasion of Gaza by Israel.
Global benchmark Brent was little changed near US$92 a barrel. Israel warned that Iran-backed Hezbollah risked dragging neighboring Lebanon into the war even as it continued fierce air raids on Hamas in Gaza. More than 60,000 people in Israel have been evacuated along the border with Lebanon.
Brent has advanced about 8 per cent since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, amid concerns the conflict will drag in other nations including Lebanon, Iran and potentially the U.S. The Middle East supplies around a third of the world’s crude and among the market’s main risks are Washington ramping up compliance checks on sanctioned Iranian oil and Tehran disrupting key shipping routes.
