Oil prices rise after announcement of Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination

Oil prices rose for the first time in four sessions on Wednesday after Hamas announced that Israel assassinated its political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, and published a report indicating a decline in US strategic petroleum reserves for the fifth consecutive week. The price of Brent crude contracts for October delivery reached about $79 per barrel after falling by 4.1% over the past three days, while West Texas Intermediate crude approached $76. Hamas said that Israel killed Haniyeh during an airstrike in Iran. Israel also announced earlier that it had killed a senior Hezbollah commander during an airstrike on Beirut, in response to an attack in the Golan Heights, which killed 12 young men at the end of the week. Source: National Iraqi News Agency