Concerns over supply disruptions from the Middle East keep gasoline prices rising

World oil prices are continuing to rise

According to Oilprice, at 5:35 a.m. on October 2 (Vietnam time), WTI oil price increased by more than 1 USD, Brent oil price "anchored" at 73.56 USD/barrel.

Oil prices jumped about 3% at the end of trading on October 1 after Iran fired a series of ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for Israel's campaign against Tehran's ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Brent crude rose $1.86, or 2.6%, to $73.56 a barrel. WTI crude rose $1.66, or 2.4%, to $69.83 a barrel. At one point during the session, both benchmarks were up more than 5%.

Clay Seigle, an independent political risk strategist, commented that Israel would not hesitate to expand its military attack to directly attack Iran, and Iranian oil facilities would likely be on the target list.

According to this strategist, an Israeli attack on Iran's oil production or export facilities could cause supply disruptions of up to more than 1 million barrels per day.

Meanwhile, in the Red Sea, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi forces also claimed responsibility for attacking at least one of the two damaged ships off the port of Hodeidah.

“In the event of an escalation, attacks could target other oil producers in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, so there is a real concern that oil supplies could be affected,” said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Brokerage and Consulting, part of TP ICAP.

Oil prices fell to a two-week low ahead of reports that Iran was planning a missile attack as the prospect of rising supply and slowing global demand outweighed concerns about escalating conflict in the Middle East and its impact on regional crude exports.

Falling US oil inventories continue to support rising oil prices

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) will meet today to assess the market. No policy changes are expected. OPEC+ is likely to increase production by 180,000 barrels per day per month from December.

U.S. crude inventories fell by 1.5 million barrels in the week ending September 27, less than analysts' expectations for a 2.1 million barrel decline, according to the American Petroleum Institute. While gasoline inventories rose by 900,000 barrels, distillate inventories continued to decline, falling by 2.7 million barrels.

Domestic gasoline prices

Domestic retail prices of gasoline on October 2 are as follows:

The above domestic retail price of gasoline and oil will be adjusted up by the Ministry of Finance - Ministry of Industry and Trade in the price adjustment session on the afternoon of October 3. Due to the decrease in world gasoline and oil prices last week, it is likely that domestic gasoline and oil prices will also decrease. If as predicted, domestic gasoline prices will not be able to record a hat-trick of increases. However, prices may "reverse" when world gasoline and oil prices increase.