SINGAPORE: Oil prices rose on Tuesday amid worries there could be a high risk of disruptions to supply, especially in the Middle East.
Brent crude oil futures were at $71.69 per barrel at 0326 GMT, up 27 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last close.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 32 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $66.54 a barrel.
Traders said oil markets were receiving general support due to a sense that there were high risks of supply disruptions, including a potentially spreading conflict in the Middle East, renewed US sanctions against Iran and falling output as a result of political and economic crisis in Venezuela.
“With so many potential supply disruptors in play and few signs that the current market upheaval will end any time soon, traders continue to pay the geopolitical risk premium,” said Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia-Pacific at futures brokerage OANDA in Singapore.
“Oil prices should remain bid ... at least through the Iran nuclear deal deadline (May 12) if not for the remainder of 2018,” he added.
Oil markets have generally been well supported this year, with Brent up by around 16 percent from its 2018-low in February, due to healthy demand which comes as the producer cartel of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) leads supply cuts aimed at tightening the market and propping up prices.
Beyond OPEC’s production restraint and concerns about supply disruptions, the main market driver in oil has been the US, where crude production has soared by almost a quarter since mid-2016 to 10.53 million barrels per day (bpd), largely thanks to a booming shale industry.
Only Russia pumps out more oil currently at almost 11 million bpd.
“US shale producers have been quietly capitalizing on higher oil prices with increasing rig counts seen. A staggering amount of 73 rotary rigs have been placed since January 2018,” said Benjamin Lu of Phillip Futures in a note on Tuesday.
“As such, we expect a softening in crude oil prices as markets adjust from a bullish streak,” he added.
The American Petroleum Institute is due to publish weekly US fuel inventory data later on Tuesday while official government data, including on production, is due from the US Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.
Oil prices rise amid risk of supply disruptions
Oil prices rise amid risk of supply disruptions
- The main market driver in oil has been the US, where crude production has soared by almost a quarter since mid-2016 to 10.53 million barrels per day
PIF’s Humain invests $3bn in Elon Musk’s xAI prior to SpaceX acquisition
JEDDAH: Humain, an artificial intelligence company owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, invested $3 billion in Elon Musk’s xAI shortly before the startup was acquired by SpaceX.
As part of xAI’s Series E round, Humain acquired a significant minority stake in the company, which was subsequently converted into shares of SpaceX, according to a press release.
The transaction reflects PIF’s broader push to position Saudi Arabia as a central hub in the global AI ecosystem, as part of its Vision 2030 diversification strategy.
Through Humain, the fund is seeking to combine capital deployment with infrastructure buildout, partnerships with leading technology firms, and domestic capacity development to reduce reliance on oil revenues and expand into advanced industries.
The $3 billion commitment offers potential for long-term capital gains while reinforcing the company’s role as a strategic, scaled investor in transformative technologies.
CEO Tareq Amin said: “This investment reflects Humain’s conviction in transformational AI and our ability to deploy meaningful capital behind exceptional opportunities where long-term vision, technical excellence, and execution converge, xAI’s trajectory, further strengthened by its acquisition by SpaceX, one of the largest technology mergers on record, represents the kind of high-impact platform we seek to support with significant capital.”
The deal builds on a large-scale collaboration announced in November at the US-Saudi Investment Forum, where Humain and xAI committed to developing over 500 megawatts of next-generation AI data center and computing infrastructure, alongside deploying xAI’s “Grok” models in the Kingdom.
In a post on his X handle, Amin said: “I’m proud to share that Humain has invested $3 billion into xAI’s Series E round, just prior to its historic acquisition by SpaceX. Through this transaction, Humain became a significant minority shareholder in xAI.”
He added: “The investment builds on our previously announced 500MW AI infrastructure partnership with xAI in Saudi Arabia, reinforcing Humain’s role as both a strategic development partner and a scaled global investor in frontier AI.”
He noted that xAI’s trajectory, further strengthened by SpaceX’s acquisition, exemplifies the high-impact platforms Humain aims to support through strategic investments.
Earlier in February, SpaceX completed the acquisition of xAI, reflecting Elon Musk’s strategy to integrate AI with space exploration.
The combined entity, valued at $1.25 trillion, aims to build a vertically integrated innovation ecosystem spanning AI, space launch technology, and satellite internet, as well as direct-to-device communications and real-time information platforms, according to Bloomberg.
Humain, founded in August, consolidates Saudi Arabia’s AI initiatives under a single entity. From the outset, its vision has extended beyond domestic markets, participating across the global AI value chain from infrastructure to applications.
The company represents a strategic initiative by PIF to diversify the Kingdom’s economy and reduce oil dependence by investing in knowledge-based and advanced technologies.
