Oil prices should continue to rise, analysts predict

Oil prices are expected to continue rising early next week. In doing so, the price of Brent crude oil closed this week at its highest level in almost four years. This is expected by analysts based on US President Donald Trump's latest threats against Iran and Tehran's subsequent reaction.

Trump warned on Saturday that if Iran "does not completely open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, they will destroy its power plants." This significantly escalated the conflict in Iran. The day before, meanwhile, Trump had spoken of "ending the war".

Tensions on the markets subsequently rose even further when Tehran responded to Trump's threats on Sunday by saying it would close the Strait of Hormuz completely if the US attacked Iran's power plants.

The latest development thus signals that oil prices will go up again next Monday, analysts said. Meanwhile, the price of Brent crude oil with the May contract rose 3.26 percent to 112.19 dollars (97.09 euros) per barrel (159 litres) at the close of trading last Friday. This is the highest level since July 2022. For the whole week, the Brent price rose by 8.8 percent.

"Trump's threats have driven uncertainty in the markets to even higher levels. Unless he backs away from this ultimatum, oil prices will go up significantly on Monday," said IG analyst Tony Sycamore.

(reuters, im)