WTI surges over 4% to recapture $85 on Middle East violence

• WTI Crude Oil prices rally hard at the start of the week on renewed Middle East conflict.
• Worries that the Israel-Palestine war could extend into other regions, underpin Oil price rally.
• OPEC+ pledge for voluntary cuts also supports the Oil-price upsurge.

West Texas Intermediary (WTI) Crude Oil price is jumping over 4% to its highest level in three days, briefly recapturing the $85 mark in the Asian session on Monday.

The extended rebound in Oil price comes on the heels of the escalating Middle East conflict between Hamas and Israel and concerns over its potential impact on global oil supplies.

Over the weekend, Gaza-headquartered Hamas militant group militarily attacked Israel and in retaliation Israel declared war on Gaza, launching airstrikes on the Hamas enclave.

Markets fear that the Hamas-Israel conflict could spread into other Middle East regions. Iran, a major oil producer and key backer of the Hamas group could come in their support, threatening a shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping artery and the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.

Meanwhile, Oil price is also finding demand early Monday after Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates reaffirmed their commitment to "collective and individual voluntary adjustments" to oil production, the Saudi state news agency said on Sunday.

In the previous week, OPEC and its allies (OPEC+) agreed in June to extend voluntary oil cuts first introduced in April until the end of 2024. 

WTI: Technical levels to watch