World oil prices
Oil prices rose about 2% in Tuesday's trading session after the U.S. shot down an Iranian drone, raising concerns that talks aimed at de-escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran could be disrupted.
According to Reuters, at the close of trading on February 3, Brent crude oil prices rose $1.03 per barrel, or 1.6%, to $67.33 per barrel, while WTI crude oil prices rose $1.07 per barrel, or 1.7%, to $63.21 per barrel.
Earlier in Monday's trading session, prices for both benchmark oil types fell by more than 4% after US President Donald Trump said Iran was "seriously in talks" with Washington.
However, on Tuesday, the U.S. military shot down an Iranian drone when it "aggressively approached" the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln.
In another development in the Strait of Hormuz, also on February 3rd, just hours after the downing of the UAV, the US accused Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of harassing a US-flagged commercial vessel operated by an American crew.
OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, and Iraq export most of their crude oil through this strait, primarily to Asia.
“Diplomatic efforts to avert a U.S. military attack on Iran are breaking down… it appears Iran is doing everything it can to sabotage this process at the moment,” Bob Yawger, head of energy futures at Mizuho Bank, said in a report.
Domestic fuel prices
The retail prices of gasoline and diesel in Vietnam on February 4th are as follows:
E5RON92 gasoline |
Not exceeding 18,339 VND/liter |
RON95-III gasoline |
Not exceeding 18,845 VND/liter |
Diesel fuel 0.05S |
Not exceeding 18,173 VND/liter |
Oil |
Not exceeding 18,176 VND/liter |
Fuel oil 180 CST 3.5S |
Not higher than 14,633 VND/kg |
The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance have adjusted domestic retail gasoline and diesel prices, effective from 3 PM on January 29th.
Specifically, E5RON92 gasoline increased by 56 VND/liter; RON95 gasoline increased by 214 VND/liter; diesel increased by 473 VND/liter; kerosene increased by 226 VND/liter; and fuel oil increased by 761 VND/kg.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the global oil market during this price adjustment period was influenced by key factors such as: tensions between the US and Iran; a severe cold spell in the US; a sharper-than-expected decrease in US oil inventories; and the prospects for negotiations to resolve the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine…
The factors mentioned above have caused world oil prices to fluctuate, rising and falling depending on the specific product, in recent days.