World oil prices continue to rise.

VTV.vn - World oil prices rose slightly in afternoon trading on February 12, as investors worried about geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran.

In this afternoon's trading session, North Sea Brent crude oil prices rose 27 cents, or 0.39%, to $69.67 per barrel. At the same time, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices increased 29 cents, or 0.45%, to $64.92 per barrel.

Earlier, in the trading session on February 11th, both major oil types closed higher (Brent rose 0.87% and WTI rose more than 1.05%). Concerns about geopolitical risks in the Middle East overshadowed news of a sharp increase in US crude oil inventories.

Following talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 11, US President Donald Trump stated that the parties had not yet reached a "final" agreement on how to handle the Iran issue, but he affirmed that negotiations with Tehran would continue.

Earlier, Trump announced he was considering deploying a second carrier strike group to the Middle East if nuclear negotiations failed. Although US and Iranian diplomats had indirect contact in Oman last week, the time and location for the next round of talks have yet to be determined.

Besides political factors, the health of the US economy is also supporting expectations for energy demand. A report from the US Department of Labor showed that job growth in January 2026 unexpectedly accelerated and the unemployment rate fell to 4.3%.

However, the upward momentum in oil prices is being restrained by a sharp increase in US crude oil inventories. According to the US Energy Information Agency (EIA), US crude oil reserves surged by 8.5 million barrels to 428.8 million barrels last week, far exceeding the analysts' forecast of a 793,000 barrel increase.

However, Gao Mingyu, Director of Energy Research at China Futures, assessed that the increase in global oil reserves since the beginning of the year has generally been lower than expected. Therefore, oil prices still tend to rise due to the combined effects of US-Iran tensions and stricter sanctions on Russian oil.

The market forecasts that oil prices will continue their upward trend in the short term as export flows are expected to tighten further.

Source: https://vtv.vn/gia-dau-the-gioi-tiep-da-tang-100260212172405329.htm