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Brent Rises on Middle East War Jitters, While WTI Dips Ahead of Inventories Report

An aerial view shows Vladimir Arsenyev tanker at the crude oil terminal Kozmino on the shore of Nakhodka Bay near the port city of Nakhodka, Russia August 12, 2022. REUTERS/Tatiana Meel/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
An aerial view shows Vladimir Arsenyev tanker at the crude oil terminal Kozmino on the shore of Nakhodka Bay near the port city of Nakhodka, Russia August 12, 2022. REUTERS/Tatiana Meel/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Brent Rises on Middle East War Jitters, While WTI Dips Ahead of Inventories Report

An aerial view shows Vladimir Arsenyev tanker at the crude oil terminal Kozmino on the shore of Nakhodka Bay near the port city of Nakhodka, Russia August 12, 2022. REUTERS/Tatiana Meel/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
An aerial view shows Vladimir Arsenyev tanker at the crude oil terminal Kozmino on the shore of Nakhodka Bay near the port city of Nakhodka, Russia August 12, 2022. REUTERS/Tatiana Meel/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Brent crude futures edged up in early trade on Thursday as Israeli tanks advanced into Gaza, while US crude futures dipped on the prospect of swelling oil inventories.

Brent crude futures for August delivery rose 8 cents to $85.15 a barrel by 0008 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude for June was down 27 cents, or 0.3%, to $81.30 per barrel.

A US federal holiday, Juneteenth, kept trading activity subdued.

Israeli troops, backed by tanks, warplanes and drones, moved farther into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah on Wednesday, killing eight people, residents and Palestinian medics said.

Escalating war in the Middle East supports prices as a wider conflict could disrupt oil supply from the region, according to Reuters.

WTI crude, meanwhile, slipped ahead of the US government's oil inventories report, which was delayed by a day due to the national holiday. The Energy Information Administration is due to release last week's oil stocks data at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) on Thursday.

An industry report release on Tuesday showed US crude stocks rose by 2.264 million barrels in the week ended June 14, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures, while gasoline inventories fell.

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Türkiye Says Aims to Rein in Tax Breaks, Target Avoidance in Reform Plan

A woman takes pictures as a ferry sails on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, 29 June 2024. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN
A woman takes pictures as a ferry sails on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, 29 June 2024. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN
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Türkiye Says Aims to Rein in Tax Breaks, Target Avoidance in Reform Plan

A woman takes pictures as a ferry sails on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, 29 June 2024. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN
A woman takes pictures as a ferry sails on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, 29 June 2024. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN

A drive by Türkiye 's government to modernize the country's tax system will seek to boost revenue by tackling tax avoidance and scrapping incentives that are no longer needed rather than raising the overall burden, the finance minister said on Monday.

Mehmet Simsek said, however, that preliminary draft proposals being discussed within the government envisioned a minimum 15% corporate tax on multinational companies, confirming a report last month by state-owned Anadolu Agency.

According to Reuters, he did not give further details about the proposal. At present, multinational companies face varying levies depending on numerous factors.

Speaking to local broadcaster BloombergHT, Simsek said the government's plans - which would need to be approved by parliament - also included raising the corporate tax on public-private partnerships (PPPs) to 30% from 25% at present.

Simsek, who has spearheaded a year-long policy-tightening program to tackle soaring inflation, said in Monday's interview that the tax plan being discussed by government officials was in the early stages and could be subject to changes before being presented to parliament.

He said there were no plans to introduce a transaction tax on the purchase and sale of stocks, but the government could propose taxes on stock market gains sometime in the future.

Earlier this month, an economy official said Türkiye had almost finalized work on imposing a transaction tax on the purchase and sale of stocks and crypto assets.
The plans are part of broader efforts to boost government savings, fiscal discipline and price stability after years of turmoil that fueled soaring inflation.

As part of the tightening program, the central bank has aggressively hiked interest rates to 50% from 8.5% since June last year. Annual inflation hit 75% in May but was expected to have dipped in June.