Oil prices continued to rally even as the equity markets around the world shed some war fears. Benchmark Brent Crude was trading at around $82 per barrel while WTI Crude hovered around $75.47 per barrel on Thursday at 3 PM IST.
Earlier in the trade, Brent jumped above the $84 per barrel mark before easing down to $82. While Brent was up 0.96 percent, WTI Crude rose 1.23 percent.
The rise in crude prices has come despite equity benchmarks around the world easing on war fears and experiencing buying sentiment on the back of some positive developments.
Asian equity markets opened higher on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei was up over 1.90 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng managed a marginal gain of 0.06 percent.
The biggest reversal came for the South Korean market, whose Kospi surged close to 12 percent before coming down to 10 percent. The small-cap Kosdaq jumped more than 11 percent.
Earlier, the US equity market on March 4 traded with marginal gains after days of intense selling due to the Iran war. The mild recovery was on the back of reports that Iran engaged in backchannel talks with the US to negotiate.
The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had also said on Wednesday that Washington will announce measures to stabilise oil shipments through the Persian Gulf. This marked another development to ease tensions on the oil front.
Despite this, experts in the energy sector do not see these incidents as reasons to cheer. Standard Chartered has revised its oil price forecast upwards.
According to a report by Oilprice.com, commodity analysts at StanChart see Brent Crude averaging around $74 per barrel in the first quarter of 2026, up from its previous forecast of $62 per barrel; Q2 at $67/bbl (from $63/bbl) and the 2026 average at $70/bbl (from $63.50/bbl).
StanChart also noted that the risk to vessels from mines or missiles has increased insurance premiums and supertanker shipping costs dramatically.
