Oil Futures Rebound on Iran, Russia-Ukraine Risk

1512 ET – Oil futures settle higher on renewed market perception of geopolitical risk going into the weekend. Rhetoric around Iran and U.S. military moves contributed to the rise, says CIBC Private Wealth US senior energy trader Rebecca Babin. The gains were mostly a recovery from yesterday’s losses on bearish U.S. inventory data and ideas that Russia-Ukraine talks would produce results, she says. “Some of the commentary we’re seeing today, and this has yet to be determined, is that the territorial issue remains unresolved.” Another supportive factor is the winter storm in the U.S. expected to freeze in some production. Loss of 100,000 or 150,000 barrels a day isn’t a huge number, “but that in combination with the geopolitical stuff is why you’re seeing the move today,” Babin adds. WTI settles up 2.9% at $61.07 a barrel and Brent rises 2.8% to $65.88 a barrel. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

Oil Futures Rebound on Renewed Iran Concerns

0932 ET – Oil futures recover from the previous session’s losses after President Trump said the U.S. is sending an armada to the Middle East, rekindling concerns of possible action against Iran. That and the extreme cold expected over half of the U.S. this weekend is keeping oil bid, outweighing abundant global supply and the planned resumption of Russia-Ukraine peace talks, BOK Financial’s Dennis Kissler says in a note. “The severe cold headed to the Midwest and Eastern U.S. along with the threats to Iran … are taking precedence,” he says. WTI is up 2.8% at $61.04 a barrel and Brent is up 2.7% at $65.78. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)