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Morgan Stanley Lifts Q3 Brent Crude Oil Forecast on Geopolitical Risk

Morgan Stanley raised its Brent crude oil price forecast for the third quarter of this year by $4 per barrel to $94. Reuters
Morgan Stanley raised its Brent crude oil price forecast for the third quarter of this year by $4 per barrel to $94. Reuters
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Morgan Stanley Lifts Q3 Brent Crude Oil Forecast on Geopolitical Risk

Morgan Stanley raised its Brent crude oil price forecast for the third quarter of this year by $4 per barrel to $94. Reuters
Morgan Stanley raised its Brent crude oil price forecast for the third quarter of this year by $4 per barrel to $94. Reuters

Morgan Stanley has raised its Brent crude oil price forecast for the third quarter of this year by $4 per barrel to $94, citing geopolitical risks.
"That the degree of geopolitical risk in key oil producing regions has increased recently seems clear and uncontroversial," the bank said in a note dated Monday.
OPEC+, a group comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia, last week kept its oil supply policy unchanged and pressed some countries to increase compliance with output cuts.
According to Reuters, Morgan Stanley said that with OPEC supply restraints, some downside to Russia production, and a seasonal upswing in demand ahead, it expects tightness in the second and third quarters.
Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries may have disrupted more than 15% of Russian capacity, a NATO official said earlier this month.

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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.