Oil Rises to Highest Level in Two Weeks amid Red Sea Shipping Concerns

Oil prices rose near their highest levels in more than two weeks as companies increasingly avoided the Red Sea due to a rise in attacks on ships along the major shipping channel.

The price of the most active February contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 1.5% to settle near $74 a barrel after BP and Equinor said they would halt all shipments through the waterway.

The recent escalation in attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi group in Yemen has fueled a rise in oil prices, after falling to their lowest levels in five months last week amid signs of rising production.

Despite the current rise in current prices, some traders do not expect it to continue in the long term, as time differences - an important measure of supply and demand - still indicate weakness.