(Bloomberg) — Oil climbed, after four days of declines, as traders weighed potential risks to production from the Middle East against concerns over a global glut.
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Brent rose toward $75 a barrel, after losing almost 7% over the prior four sessions, while West Texas Intermediate neared $71. Both benchmarks had slid earlier in the week after reports that Israel would avoid attacks on Iran’s crude facilities in retaliation for an Oct. 1 attack.
Israel stepped up air strikes on Lebanon on Wednesday, and said a senior Hezbollah commander in the south of the country had been killed, the latest escalation of its conflict with the Tehran-backed militant group. That came as an oil leak near a key terminal in Iran heightened attention on the country’s export facilities.
Oil prices have been buffeted this month as concerns over the conflict in the Middle East, which supplies about a third of the world’s crude, were pared by increasing bearish signals. Rising production from outside OPEC and sluggish demand growth will lead to a “sizable surplus” next year, barring any major disruption to flows, the International Energy Agency said this week.
Meanwhile, an industry group reported US crude stockpiles fell 1.6 million barrels last week. That would be the first decline in three weeks if confirmed by official data later Thursday. Traders will also be watching a housing-policy brief in China, after disappointment over an earlier fiscal-policy briefing stoked concerns over demand in the world’s biggest importer.
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