Crude oil futures gained on Tuesday morning following fears of supply disruptions due to the attack on merchant vessels by Houthi militants in Red Sea region.

At 9:54 am on Tuesday, February Brent oil futures were at $78.10, up by 0.19 per cent, and February crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $72.84, up by 0.03 per cent.

January crude oil futures were trading at ₹6,081 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during initial trading against the previous close of ₹6,137, down by 0.91 per cent, and February futures were trading at ₹6119 as against the previous close of ₹6163, down by 0.71 per cent.

Longer route

Some of the shipping companies decided to avoid the Red Sea route following the missile and drone attacks on ships by Houthi militants. This would make the ships to take a longer route leading to the delay in supplies and increase in cost.

Some companies such as BP PLC and the oil shipping group Frontline Ltd announced their decision to avoid the Red Sea region for transportation of crude oil.

Market reports said around 15 per cent of global shipping traffic is routed through Suez Canal. This canal, which connects Red Sea with Mediterranean Sea, shortens the shipping route between Asia and Europe.

On Monday, the operation of petrol stations in Iran was affected due to a cyber attack. Following this, Javad Owji, Oil Minister of Iran, told the Iranian media that services had been disrupted at about 70 per cent of petrol stations in Iran due to a cyber attack. He had said that outside interference was a possible cause for this.

Jeera gains, guar gum slips

January natural gas futures were trading at ₹204.10 on MCX against the previous close of ₹207.40, down by 1.59 per cent.

On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), January jeera contracts were trading at ₹37,725 against the previous close of ₹37,600, up by 0.33 per cent.

January guar gum futures were trading at ₹10,542 on NCDEX against the previous close of ₹10,584, down by 0.40 per cent.

Related Topics