WTI Continues Surge on Middle East Conflict Escalation Fears

Crude has continued surging on the day amid headlines implying further escalation in the Israel-Hamas conflict. WTI has risen to new intraday highs, although remains below yesterday’s intraday peak.

• WTI DEC 23 up 2.8% at 82.72$/bbl
• WTI DEC 23-JAN 24 up 0.04$/bbl at 0.38$/bbl
• WTI JAN 24-FEB 24 up 0.03$/bbl at 0.5$/bbl
• WTI DEC 23-DEC 24 up 0.69$/bbl at 5.71$/bbl
• Wires carrying comments attributed to an unnamed 'senior Hezbollah source' claiming that 'Lebanon's Hezbollah simultaneously attacks 19 positions in Israel along border with Lebanon'. It should be noted that clashes on the Israel-Lebanon border have occurred frequently since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, with the fighting so far limited to rocket and mortar attacks and gunfights.
• Israel says it is fighting ‘face-to-face battles’ with Hamas as its troops move deeper into Gaza according to NYT.
• The Wall Street Journal has reported that the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group may provide an air defence system to the Iranian-backed Lebanon-based Hezbollah.