New Delhi (Reuters) – Oil prices rose on Monday, extending gains for a second session as U.S. efforts to replenish strategic reserves provided some support, although concerns of crude oversupply and softer fuel demand growth next year persisted.
Brent crude futures rose 0.6%, or 48 cents, to $76.32 a barrel by 0406 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $71.61 a barrel, up 0.5%, or 38 cents.
Both contracts jumped more than 2% on Friday but fell for the seventh straight week, their longest streak of weekly declines since 2018, on lingering oversupply concerns.
The recent price weakness drew demand from the U.S., which has sought up to 3 million barrels of crude for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) for delivery in March 2024.
“We know the Biden Administration is in the market looking to refill the SPR, which will provide support,” IG analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note, adding that prices were also being supported by technical chart indicators.
Despite the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, together called OPEC+, having pledged to cut 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of production in the first quarter, investors remain sceptical supply will drop. Output growth in non-OPEC countries is seen leading to excess supply next year.
RBC Capital Markets expects stock draws of 700,000 bpd in the first half but only 140,000 bpd for the full year.
“Prices will remain volatile and directionless until the market sees clear data points pertaining to the voluntary output cuts,” RBC analysts said in a note.
With cuts not implemented until next month and country level production data to follow subsequent to January, it will be a volatile two months before there is preliminary clarity on quantifiable data on compliance, the analysts added.
The latest consumer price index data from China, the world’s top oil importer, showed rising deflationary pressures as weak domestic demand cast doubt over the country’s economic recovery.
Chinese officials pledged on Friday they would spur domestic demand and consolidate and enhance the economic recovery in 2024.
This week, investors are watching for guidance on interest rate policies from meetings at five central banks, including the Federal Reserve, and data on U.S. inflation, for their impact on the global economy and oil demand.
Gaza/Cairo (Reuters) – Israeli tanks were trying to push further west in their battle against Hamas in and around Khan Younis on Monday, as they met resistance amid intense combat in a war that has now entered its third month and with no end in sight.
The fighting in Khan Younis, the main city in the southern Gaza Strip with a population of around 626,000 including people displaced by Israeli bombing in the north, comes as Israel refocused its war effort to the south.
Amid reports of a “catastrophic” health situation in Gaza from the World Health Organization, Palestinian activists called for a global strike on Monday as part of a coordinated effort to pressure Israel into a cease-fire.
“It is time – WORLD WIDE TOTAL STRIKE,” urged one call. But it was unclear whether the effort would catch on globally or have an impact on Israel’s war plans.
The 193-member United Nations General Assembly was likely to vote on Tuesday on a draft resolution demanding a ceasefire, diplomats said on Sunday.
On Friday, the United States vetoed a UN Security Council proposal demanding an immediate cease-fire for humanitarian reasons.
The U.S. vote was criticized by Arab foreign ministers on Sunday at an international conference in Doha, the capital of Qatar, which played a key role in negotiating the cease-fire late last month.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he would “not give up” appealing for a ceasefire.
“I urged the Security Council to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and I reiterated my appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared,” Guterres said. “Regrettably, the Security Council failed to do it, but that does not make it less necessary.”
The fighting began on Oct. 7 when Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages. In response, Israel has vowed to annihilate the militant Islamist group Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007.
According to Gaza health authorities, around 18,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks, with 49,500 injured. About 100 of the Israeli hostages were freed during a week-long truce that ended on Dec. 1.
On Sunday, residents of Khan Younis said tanks had reached the city’s main north-south road. Warplanes were attacking an area to the west.
Guterres said the city could be on the verge of collapse with the possibility of epidemic diseases engulfing it.
Israel and Hamas meanwhile engaged in a war of words on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised statement that dozens of Hamas fighters had surrendered, while Hamas rebutted the claim and said it had destroyed 180 Israeli military vehicles. It did not provide evidence, however.
Meanwhile, hospitals in Gaza were at maximum capacity with dead and injured Palestinians, according to the main Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.
While the world’s attention has been riveted on the military action in the Gaza Strip, worries of the war spreading were further fed by fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is backed by Iran.
Also on Sunday, Ayman Safadi, the foreign minister of Jordan, accused Israel of “a systematic effort to empty Gaza of its people” and pushing them to leave the territory.
Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy called the accusation “outrageous and false,” saying his country was defending itself “from the monsters who perpetrated the Oct. 7 massacre” and bring them to justice.
[1/5]People rally calling for the release of hostages kidnapped on the deadly October 7 attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, December 9, 2023. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne Acquire Licensing Rights
TEL AVIV, Dec 9
Tek Aviv (Reuters) – Thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday demanding the release of all hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, while some of those freed during a recent ceasefire spoke in videos about the rough conditions of their captivity.
The protesters waved flags and carried pictures of Israelis still in Gaza. One sign held up read: “They trust us to get them out of hell.”
Of the roughly 240 people taken hostage by Hamas during its Oct. 7 killing spree in Israel that sparked the war in Gaza, 137 remain in captivity after others were returned during a truce. Some have been declared dead in absentia by Israeli authorities.5
Margalit Moses, 77, in a video testimony told how she tried to take with her a machine that helps her breathe at night, but her captors took it away. Instead she was told to sit and lean her head back against the wall.
“I could breathe that way, but I couldn’t fall asleep,” she said.
Adina Moshe, 72, said close friends were left behind while she was released during the truce after 49 days in Gaza. Her friends are old, she said, with health problems and no access to medicines.
“The food situation there deteriorated; in the end we were eating just rice,” she said.
More than 100 hostages were freed in the week-long truce that ended on Dec. 1. Since then fighting has resumed with Israel pursuing its military offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
Siblings Maya and Itay Regev, ages 21 and 18, were also among those released.
“Every day there was like hell,” said Maya. “Unreal fear. No sleep at night. The yearnings are crazy and the lack of knowing (what’s happening) is just scary.”
Dubai (Reuters) – A raft of new pledges announced at the COP28 climate summit – from tripling renewables to reining in methane emissions – won’t be enough on their own to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Sunday.
So far, 130 countries have agreed to triple renewables and double the rate of energy efficiency improvements, while 50 oil and gas companies have agreed to cut out methane emissions and eliminate routine flaring by 2030 under the Oil and Gas Decarbonisation Charter.
If everyone delivered on their commitments, it would lower global-energy related greenhouse gas emissions by 4 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2030, the IEA analysis said.
That is about a third of the emissions gap that needs to be closed in the next six years to limit warming to 1.5C above preindustrial levels, as agreed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
“They would not be nearly enough to move the world onto a path to reaching international climate targets,” the IEA said. “The IEA will continue to monitor the ongoing developments at COP28 and update its assessment as needed.”
The IEA has previously said that countries would need to deliver in five key areas at COP28 to keep 1.5C a possibility.
In addition to adding renewables, boosting energy efficiency and cutting methane, it said a large-scale financing mechanism is needed to triple clean energy investment in poorer nations. The IEA also said the world would need to commit to a decline in the use of fossil fuels, and end new approvals of unabated coal-fired power plants.
The COP28 summit runs through Dec. 12.
For daily comprehensive coverage on COP28 in your inbox, sign up for the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter here.
Doha (Reuters) – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday he will not give up appealing for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, adding that the war undermined the credibility and authority of the Security Council.
Gueterres was speaking at the Doha Forum conference as Washington vetoed on Friday a proposed U.N. Security Council demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“I urged the Security Council to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and I reiterated my appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared,” Guterres said.
“Regrettably, the Security Council failed to do it, but that does not make it less necessary,” he said.
“I will not give up,” Guterres added.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told the gathering that Doha will continue to pressure Israel and Hamas for a truce despite “narrowing” chances.
Qatar, where several political leaders of Hamas are based, has been leading negotiations between the group and Israel.
Sheikh Mohammed said hostages were released from Gaza because of negotiations and not because of Israel’s military actions.
The head of UNRWA, the U.N. aid agency for Palestinians, said the dehumanization of Palestinians has allowed the international community to tolerate Israel’s continued attacks on Gaza.
“There is no doubt that a humanitarian ceasefire is needed if we want to put an end to hell on earth right now in Gaza,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said.
The United States and Israel oppose a ceasefire because they believe it would only benefit Hamas. Washington instead supports pauses in fighting to protect civilians and allow the release of hostages taken by Hamas in a deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Guterres also urged leaders at the COP28 climate conference to agree on deep cuts to emissions and stop global warming exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
He said that despite pledges, emissions are at a record high and fossil fuels are the major cause.
Oil producing powers clashed on Saturday with the rest of the countries over a possible agreement to phase-out fossil fuels at the climate summit in Dubai, jeopardising attempts to deliver a first-ever commitment to eventually end the use of oil and gas in 30 years of global warming talks.
“I urge leaders at COP28 in Dubai to agree on deep cuts to emissions, in line with the 1.5-degree limit,” Guterres said adding that fossil fuel companies and their backers should use their enormous resources to lead the renewables revolution.
Jerusalem (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuffed on Sunday international calls to end the Gaza war, describing them as inconsistent with supporting the war-aim of eliminating Hamas.
Briefing his cabinet, Netanyahu said he had told the leaders of France, Germany and other countries: “You cannot on the one hand support the elimination of Hamas and on other pressure us to end the war, which would prevent the elimination of Hamas”.
Jerusalem (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday and voiced displeasure with “anti-Israel positions” taken by Moscow’s envoys at the United Nations, an Israeli statement said.
Russia backed a U.N. Security Council resolution for a Gaza truce, which was vetoed by the United States on Friday. Speaking to Putin, Netanyahu also voiced “robust disapproval” of Russia’s “dangerous” cooperation with Iran, the Israeli statement said.
The Kremlin said Russia was ready to give all possible assistance to alleviate the suffering of civilians and de-escalate the conflict.
“Vladimir Putin reaffirmed the principle position of rejecting and condemning terrorism in all its forms,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
“At the same time, it is extremely important that countering terrorist threats does not lead to such grave consequences for the civilian population.”
Russia’s foreign minister on Sunday said an international monitoring mission should go to Gaza to monitor the humanitarian situation.
Beirut/Jerusalem (Reuters) – Lebanon’s Hezbollah said it had launched explosive drones at an Israeli command position on Sunday and Israeli air strikes hit south Lebanon, as violence prompted by the war in Gaza rumbled on across the Israeli-Lebanese frontier.
The Israeli army said “suspicious aerial targets” had crossed from Lebanon and two were intercepted. Two Israeli soldiers were moderately wounded and a number of others lightly injured from shrapnel and smoke inhalation, it said.
Israeli fighter jets carried out “an extensive series of strikes on Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanese territory”, it said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in Lebanon.
The exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah, a heavily armed group backed by Iran, have marked their worst hostilities since a 2006 war. The violence has largely been contained to the border area.
“The resistance will continue to exhaust the enemy, and will not stop unless the aggression against Gaza and Lebanon stops,”
senior Hezbollah official Sheikh Ali Damoush said in a speech on Sunday, which was emailed by the group’s media office.
Hezbollah said it had used the explosive drones to attack an Israeli command position near Ya’ara in Israel at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT).
Sirens had sounded in Israel at several locations at the border.
In Beirut, residents saw what appeared to be two warplanes streaking across a clear blue sky, leaving vapour trails behind them.
Declaring its actions were in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah has been carrying out frequent attacks. It announced 10 on Saturday.
In an attack at a different location at the border at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Sunday, Hezbollah said its fighters had achieved a direct hit on an Israeli position using “appropriate weapons”.
Israeli air strikes pounded the outskirts of the village of Yaroun in Lebanon – not far from the location of that attack -according to the Lebanese National News Agency and a witness in the area.
The air strikes broke windows of houses, shops and a school in the nearby village of Rmeich, Toni Elias, a priest in Rmeich, told Reuters by phone.
Violence at the border has killed more than 120 people in Lebanon, including 85 Hezbollah fighters and 16 civilians. In Israel, the hostilities have killed seven soldiers and four civilians.