Staff Reporter :
Oil hit a fresh two-year high on Monday. After the arrests over the weekend of at least 11 Saudi Arabian princes and dozens of senior officials and prominent businessmen by the country’s new Anti-Corruption Commission.
Billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was among the princes, ministers and officials detained by Mohammed bin Salman, who said recently that he backed an extension to production curbs by the world’s biggest oil-producing countries (OPEC).
Brent crude was up 0.8 per cent at $62.55 a barrel on Monday – its highest level since July 2015 – as uncertainty over the situation in Riyadh added to other factors putting upward pressure on oil prices, according to media reports.
Analysts said the uncertainty generated by the future king’s actions were behind the price of international benchmark Brent jumping to more than $62 a barrel, compared with around $50 in the first half of the year.
“The price rise is a reaction to the uncertainty from Saudi Arabia,” said Mihir Kapadi, Chief Executive of Wealth Management company Sun Global Investments.
