Oil price rises on Gaza conflict  

The BBC reports that Israel's invasion of Gaza has been blamed for a jump in the oil price - Oil price rises on Gaza conflict.

The price of oil has risen briefly on fears of heightened tension in the Middle East following Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.

US light, sweet crude peaked at $48.68 a barrel, before falling back to trade at $46.44, up 10 cents on the day. The price of Brent crude was down one cent at $46.90 a barrel.

Opec sources have said that is is highly unlikely that the oil producers' cartel will follow Iran's call to boycott supporters of Israel. Among Opec's biggest producers are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, all of which have good relations with the United States.

An Iranian military commander had suggested earlier that oil supplies should be withheld to put pressure on Israel's allies. Separately, Iran's Opec representative Mohammad Ali Khatibi said that the cartel would hold an extraordinary meeting in Kuwait in February.

Opec has already agreed to production cuts of 4.2 million barrels per day, but prices have not risen in response.

Given the plunge in the oil price in recent months and the corresponding plunge in oil company prospects I may as well link to this interesting piece of analysis once again, section 6 being the relevant component - Energy Conflicts and Differential Profits.