Oil rises as investors weigh supply threats

According to Business Recorder, crude prices moved higher on Wednesday, with Brent changing hands at $101.33 a barrel by 1200 GMT after a gain of 75 cents, or 0.75 per cent. US West Texas Intermediate added 39 cents, which is 0.44 per cent, reaching $89.83. Buyers were responding to Middle East supply risks and a storm over oil-producing US regions.

PVM analyst Tamas Varga said investors doubt that the recent gains in Middle East supply and exports will last. He also noted that the approaching US storm, along with fighting in the Middle East and Ukraine, has eased downward pressure on prices. Separately, Yemen's Houthis fired ballistic missiles and explosive drones at Aden international airport as clashes with government forces intensified.

Vitol CEO Russell Hardy said on Tuesday that strikes on Russian energy sites and lost Middle East refining output had tightened fuel markets, while European diesel futures rose 13 per cent on the day to trade about $77 a barrel above Brent. Two EU diplomats said the International Energy Agency's informal session on Wednesday was weighing a possible release of oil and diesel reserves to ease the burden on consumers and businesses. UBS analysts described such reserve releases as a short-lived cushion that leaves underlying market tightness in place. KCM Trade's Tim Waterer called the storm an unwelcome complication for crude.