Sharp spike in oil prices as Gulf geopolitical tensions persist
Brent crude jumps 3.8% to $107.4: Oil prices surge as geopolitical tensions escalate
Energy commodities are surging early on Thursday, with Brent-WTI spread widening and Middle East grades like Murban outperforming due to regional risk premiums.
Global oil and gas prices have shown strong upward momentum amid continuing geopolitical tensions, recent market data shows.
OilPrice.com captures these levels:
WTI Crude: $98.84 (+2.52, +2.62%)
Brent Crude: $107.4 (+3.96, +3.83%)
Murban Crude: $116.8 (+5.84, +5.26%)
Natural Gas: $3.189 (+0.124, +4.05%)
As of approximately 7.40 am Tokyo (Thursday, March 19), corresponding to 10:40 pm GMT Wednesday (March 18),
Significant gains
These reflect significant gains, likely driven by geopolitical tensions, including reports of threats or incidents involving Iranian energy infrastructure, contributing to supply risk concerns.
Cross-referencing with live sources around this timeframe (markets were volatile on March 18-19, with settlements and after-hours moves):
WTI Crude (front-month futures) hovered around $98-99 per barrel, with recent closes/levels near $98.17–99.09 and intraday highs pushing toward $99.50+ amid the surge.
Brent Crude traded in the $107-110 per barrel range, up sharply (around +2.6% to +6% in sessions).
Murban Crude (Abu Dhabi benchmark) moved at approximately $116-$117 per barrel, showing the strongest percentage gains among the crudes.
Natural Gas (Henry Hub futures) sat near $3.20 per MMBtu, up about +4-5%, matching the screenshot's 3.200 level.
Prices can fluctuate rapidly — check a live source like OilPrice.com, CME, or Trading Economics for the absolute latest tick.
The current trend offers a solid snapshot of the upward move reflecting the Asian/European session overlap.
