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Oil prices rise on report that Israel may attack Iran’s nuclear sites
- Core Insights Advisory Services
- May 20
- 2 min read
Source: Market Watch
Date: May 20, 2025
Crude oil prices rose Tuesday night, following a report that Israel is gearing up for a possible strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
CNN, citing multiple U.S. officials, reported that the U.S. has obtained intelligence suggesting Israel is making preparations, including munitions movements and air exercises, for a potential airstrike on Iranian nuclear sites.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures for July briefly spiked 3.5% on Tuesday night, above $64 a barrel, before settling back to around $63 a barrel, up 1.6%. Brent crude for July
last topped $66 a barrel, up 1.5%.
An Israeli attack could once again ratchet up tensions in the Middle East, threatening a regional war and potentially disrupting the global flow of oil.
Despite Western sanctions, Iran produces 3.3 million barrels of crude per day, according to International Energy Agency data, its highest level in five years and the third-most among OPEC nations.
Israel has not made a final decision on an attack, according to CNN, which said its decision would likely be influenced by how the Israeli government thinks the Trump administration’s renewed talks with Iran are going.
A strike would fly in the face of the Trump administration’s efforts to secure a new nuclear deal with Iran. “We’re getting close to maybe doing a deal” without having to resort to military action, President Donald Trump said last week during a trip to Qatar. But earlier Tuesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the Trump administration’s latest demands “outrageous” and said a deal was unlikely, according to Bloomberg News.
While Israel and Iran have fought proxy and clandestine wars for decades, direct military action has been rare. But that’s changed over the past year. In April 2024, Iran launched a massive missile attack on Israel, most of which were intercepted, after an Iranian consular building in Syria was hit by a suspected Israeli airstrike. In October, Iran again fired dozens of missiles at Israel, again causing little damage, in response to Israel’s incursion into southern Lebanon. Israel responded with airstrikes against military targets in Iran.