Crude oil prices rose on Monday after the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, reigniting greater uncertainty over the Middle East conflict, although market sentiment was expected to limit gains as demand waned.
Brent crude futures rose 36 cents (0.51%) to $71.48 a barrel ahead of the session and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 38 cents (0.57%) to $67.58 a barrel.
Syrian rebels announced on state television on Sunday that they had toppled President al-Assad and ended a 50-year family dynasty in a surprise attack that raised fears of a new wave of instability in the already war-torn region.
Tomomichi Akuta, senior economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting, said developments in Syria had added a new layer of political uncertainty to the Middle East and provided some support to markets.
However, Saudi Arabia’s price cuts and the extension of OPEC+ production cuts last week underscored weak demand from China and suggested the market could weaken towards the end of the year.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest crude exporter, cut its January 2025 prices for Asian buyers to their lowest since early 2021.
On Thursday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) pushed back the start of oil output increases by three months until April and extended the full easing of production cuts by a year until the end of 2026.
With a supply glut looming next year, both Brent and WTI have posted losses for the past two consecutive weeks.
