Oil prices increased on Monday on fears of a widening conflict in the Middle East following a rocket attack in the Golan Heights that Israel and the United States blamed on the armed group Hezbollah.
Brent crude futures gained 0.3 percent to $81.33 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 0.1% at $77.25 a barrel.
Last week, Brent lost 1.8%, while WTI fell 3.7% on falling Chinese demand and hopes for a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
On Sunday, Israel’s security cabinet authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to decide on the “manner and timing” of its response to Saturday’s rocket attack in the Golan Heights that killed 12 teenagers and children.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest in Israel or on territory annexed to Israel since Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault that sparked the Gaza war. That conflict has expanded on many fronts and risks becoming a wider regional conflict.
Israel has vowed retaliation against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israeli aircraft struck targets in southern Lebanon on Sunday.
“Concerns about escalating tensions in the Middle East prompted new buying, but gains were limited by lingering concerns about weakening demand in China,” said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities.
