Crude oil futures traded higher on Friday morning as the market feared an all-out war in West Asia following the recent developments in the region.
At 9.54 am on Friday, October Brent oil futures were at $80.11, up by 0.74 per cent, and September crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $76.91, up by 0.79 per cent.
August crude oil futures were trading at ₹6,448 on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Friday, against the previous close of ₹6,436, up by 0.19 per cent, and September futures were trading at ₹6,387, against the previous close of ₹6,371, up by 0.25 per cent.
The West Asia region has been witnessing several killings in the past few days. There were reports of the rocket strike by the Iran-backed Hezbollah in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights area last Saturday. This had led to the death of 12 children and teenagers in the Golan Heights area.
Following this, a Hezbollah commander was killed in Beirut on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran. Iran has now threatened to retaliate for this killing, and stated that Israel would pay a heavy price for this. However, Israel did not claim responsibility for the assassination of Haniyeh.
Media reports said that Israel’s military has confirmed the death of Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip last month.
Market players fear that the recent developments could lead to an all-out war between Israel and others in the West Asia region, which could lead to crude oil supply disruptions to the world market.
Meanwhile, the recent meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, known as OPEC+, did not make any changes in production output policies despite the decline in crude oil prices in the past few weeks.
August natural gas futures were trading at ₹165.90 on MCX during the initial hour of trading on Friday, against the previous close of ₹168.80, down by 1.72 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), August guargum contracts were trading at ₹10,674 in the initial hour of trading on Friday, against the previous close of ₹10,942, down by 2.45 per cent.
August turmeric (farmer polished) futures were trading at ₹15,916 on NCDEX in the initial hour of trading on Friday, against the previous close of ₹16,000, down by 0.53 per cent.