World oil and gas prices skyrocket

Last night (August 27) in the international commodity trading session, the price of crude oil futures on the US market suddenly soared above the 109 USD per barrel range, due to investors' concerns that the US would launch a military war against Syria.

Specifically, the price of light, sweet crude oil for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed the session on August 27 up 3.09 USD, equivalent to an increase of 2.9%, to 109.01 USD per barrel. According to FactSet data, this is the highest daily closing price of this type of crude oil futures contract since February 24, 2012. In the previous session, the price of crude oil decreased slightly by 50 cents.



Although Syria is only a country with limited oil production in the Middle East, according to analysts, once war breaks out here, the transportation of oil out of the Middle East will be hindered - Photo: Reuters.

On the London Commodity Exchange, the price of light, sweet crude oil Brent North Sea also jumped by 3.63 USD, equivalent to an increase of 3.3%, to 114.36 USD per barrel. With the simultaneous increase with a large amplitude, the gap between the price of crude oil futures on the New York Exchange and crude oil futures on the London Exchange has now widened to over 5 USD per barrel.

According to analysts, the main reason for the sudden and sharp increase in world oil prices is due to concerns about the risk of a major war in the Middle East that is clouding the psychology of international commodity investors. The VIX index, which measures investor uncertainty in the US stock market, has jumped 20% in the past two days.

Although Syria is only a country with limited oil production in the Middle East, according to analysts, once war breaks out here, the transportation of oil out of the Middle East will be hindered. The Middle East is considered the "oil center" of the world. War here will not only affect crude oil prices, but also affect the global economy.

Not to mention that Syria shares a border with Iraq, so if war breaks out in Syria, Iraq will inevitably be affected. Some investors are concerned that the war in Syria will not only be limited to this territory, but will also be stretched and expanded to a series of other borders.

In another development, yesterday's oil prices were completely dominated by the situation in the Middle East, because investors were looking forward to reports on the supply situation of crude oil in the US in the week ending August 23, to quantify the upcoming trading direction. According to the results of the investigation by Platts, analysts estimated that oil supply decreased by 250,000 barrels.

According to VnEconomy - TH