“West Texas Intermediate crude headed for the biggest three-day gain in nine months as air strikes in Syria renewed concern that unrest will spread in the Middle East and disrupt supply.London’s Brent oil rose.
WTI futures climbed as much as 1.6 percent in New York after Syria’s state news agency said Israeli aircraft attacked a military research center on the outskirts of Damascus yesterday. The offensive was a “declaration of war,” Syria’s deputy foreign minister told CNN. Israel didn’t confirm involvement. The Middle East accounted for 33 percent of global crude output in 2011, according to BP Plc (BP/)’s Statistical Review of World Energy. WTI capped a second weekly gain May 3 after U.S. employment rose more than forecast.
“If the geopolitical events between Israel and Syria start to escalate, the market will automatically write in a premium and you should see a spike in the price of oil,” said Jonathan Barratt, the chief executive officer of Barratt’s Bulletin, a commodity newsletter in Sydney. “The key on the topside is $98.50 and a break of that area may send the price to $100. Another couple of bombings and you will see it.”
WTI for June delivery gained as much as $1.56 to $97.17 a barrel in electronic trading on theNew York Mercantile Exchange and was at $96.23 at 3:12 p.m. Singapore time. The volume for all contracts traded was more than four times the 100-day average. Futures increased $1.62 to $95.61 on May 3, the highest close since April 2. Prices have risen 5.1 percent over the past three days, the most since August, and climbed 2.8 percent last week.
