Oil Prices Jump As There Is No Sign Of Life At Iran President's Helicopter Crash Site

Oil prices rallied in early Asian trade on May 20 amid reports surfacing that there was "no sign" of life among passengers of the helicopter carrying Iran President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and other officials, according to Iran's State Media.

Earlier, oil prices gained last week after the US purchased crude oil to help refill the national stockpile. Brent surged 26 cents, or 0.3% to $84.24 a barrel by 0049 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) gained 15 cents, or 0.2% to $80.21 a barrel, according to Reuters.

Brent had ended the previous week rising approximately 1%, its first weekly gain in three weeks, while WTI surged 2% amid improved economic indicators from the U.S. and China, the world's largest oil consumers, Reuters reported.

Earlier, a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed on Sunday, an Iranian official told Reuters. Despite the volatility in the region, oil prices moved only slightly.

"The oil market remains largely rangebound and without any fresh catalyst we will likely have to wait for clarity around OPEC+ output policy in order to break out of this range," said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING.

"The market also appears increasingly numb to developments on the geopolitical front, likely due to the large amount of spare capacity OPEC is sitting on," Patterson said.
The U.S. government took benefit of the latest decline in oil prices, saying late last week it had bought 3.3 million barrels of oil at $79.38 a barrel to help refill its Strategic Petroleum Reserve after a massive sale from the stockpile in 2022, added reports.

Supporting the market last week, signs of easing inflation in the U.S. boosted expectations of interest rate cuts, which could decrease the value of the dollar and make oil cheaper for holders of other currencies, stated Reuters reports.