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Ulviyya Poladova

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The military situation in the Middle East remains tense, continuing to influence oil prices on global energy markets, AzerNEWS reports.

Compared with previous days, oil prices have edged higher today. On the London Stock Exchange, the price of Brent crude rose by $3.18 to $87.27 per barrel, while Light crude increased by $2.76 to $82.02 per barrel.

The main factor behind the stabilization of oil prices is the passage of five vessels through the Strait of Hormuz with the assistance of the U.S. Navy. Two of the vessels were crude oil tankers. Meanwhile, 37 vessels have passed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea, approximately 12 of them oil tankers. However, the volume of crude oil carried by these tankers is unknown, meaning that their passage has not had a significant impact on market prices.

Analysts believe that, in some cases, oil transported from the Middle East with the assistance of U.S. military forces has been delivered directly to buyers under existing orders rather than being traded on exchanges. Any major oil refinery could potentially carry out such an operation, although it would come at a very high cost.

According to Kpler, there is currently no significant vessel traffic through either strait. It is also difficult to determine the cargoes carried by the small number of vessels passing through the straits intermittently.

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