Saturday 10/January/2026 – 12:03 AM
I registered Oil prices Its longest streak of weekly gains since last June, driven by escalating geopolitical tensions in Iran, following the authorities’ intensification of their campaign to suppress protests across the country, in addition to warnings issued by US President Donald Trump of possible consequences if demonstrators are targeted.
Oil prices record the longest wave of weekly gains since June amid Iran tensions
According to Bloomberg, West Texas Intermediate crude contracts settled near the level of $59 per barrel, after achieving an increase of more than 5% during the previous two sessions.
This came after Tehran announced that those it described as rioters who cause sabotage of public property or clash with security forces may face the death penalty, just one day after the US President warned that the Iranian regime would pay a heavy price if protesters were killed.
These unrest are the biggest challenge facing Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei since the 2022 protests, and have also disrupted air traffic to and from the country, which is one of the largest oil producers with a production exceeding 3 million barrels per day. The risks became clearer in the derivatives markets, as demand for options contracts betting on the rise in US oil prices rose to their highest levels since July.
Continuing gains despite expectations of excess supply
Despite expectations of a large surplus in oil supply during the current year, oil continued to record gains for the third week in a row, at a time when this abundance may put pressure on prices in the coming months. Goldman Sachs Group indicated that its clients expressed the highest levels of pessimism towards the oil market in about a decade.
For his part, Robert Rennie, head of commodity research at Westpac Banking, said that oil prices are still moving in a sideways range, between escalating geopolitical risks on the one hand and rising inventory levels on the other hand.
He added that the increase in supplies coming from Venezuela, along with the rise in production in other regions, may push prices to trade in the fifties range during the first quarter of the year, pointing out that oil prices had declined by about 18% over the past year.
