This Thursday (12), oil prices increased and surpassed the US$100 per barrel mark, driven by the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, which has lasted 13 days and has been marked by attacks on energy targets in the Gulf region.
A barrel of Brent, a global reference, closed up 9.21%, at US$ 100.46 per barrel, on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), in London. It is the first time since August 2022, the year in which Ukraine was attacked by Russia, that the price has closed above US$100.
At the beginning of the week, the price of Brent reached close to US$ 120, but prices slowed down with statements that suggested that the War would not last long. The price went from an extreme high to a sharp drop on the same day and the barrel closed far from US$100 at the time.
Today’s rise comes one day after the announcement of the release of oil from global strategic reserves. The 32 member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) decided this Wednesday, the 11th, to release 400 million barrels on the international market, in an attempt to contain fears of a shortage of supply of the commodity.
