Oil Hits Two-Week High as Red Sea Attacks Stoke Shipping Fears
- WTI futures curve continues to signal market weakness
- More companies are shunning key global maritime trade route
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Oil rose to the highest price in more than two weeks as companies increasingly steer clear of the Red Sea amid a spike in vessel attacks along the key shipping conduit.
West Texas Intermediate’s more active February contract advanced 1.5% to settle near $74 a barrel after BP Plc and Equinor ASA said they would pause all shipments through the waterway. The recent escalation in attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen has bolstered a rebound in oil prices that had slumped to a five-month low last week amid signs of rising production.