Oil prices rise amid uncertainty over the fate of Iran’s president

By Colleen Howe

BEIJING (Reuters) – Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Monday, adding to last week’s gains as rescuers searched for Iran’s president after a helicopter crash in the oil-producing nation and the U.S. bought crude to help replenish the national stockpile.

Brent was up 26 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $84.24 a barrel by 0049 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 15 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $80.21 a barrel.

Brent ended the previous week up about 1 percent, its first weekly gain in three weeks, while WTI rose 2 percent on improved economic indicators in the U.S. and China, the world’s biggest oil consumers.

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed on Sunday, an Iranian official told Reuters. The lives of President Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were in danger, the official said.

Despite the volatility in the region, oil prices moved only slightly.

“The oil market remains largely capped and, without any new catalyst, we will likely have to wait for clarity on OPEC+ production policy to break out of this range,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING .

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, collectively known as OPEC+, are scheduled to meet on June 1.

“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 advantage of the recent drop in oil prices, saying late last week it was buying 3.3 million barrels of oil at $79.38 a barrel to help replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after a massive sell-off in the stock in 2022 .

Supporting the market last week, signs of easing U.S. inflation fueled expectations of an interest rate cut that could weaken the dollar and make oil cheaper for holders of other currencies.

(Reporting by Colleen Howe; Editing by Sonali Paul)