08:41 AM EDT, 10/04/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Oil prices rose again early on Friday, pushing higher for a fourth day as the market awaits Israel's response to Iran's missile attack this week.

West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was last seen up US$0.61 to US$74.32 per barrel, while December Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up US$0.67 to US$78.29.

Oil has gained nearly 10% since the Oct.1 attack, as traders fear a spreading Middle Eastern war that could imperil supplies from the Persian Gulf, which accounts for nearly a third of global production. Israel and the United States are discussing a retaliatory attack on Iranian oil infrastructure, according to a Thursday comment from U.S. President Joe Biden, which could cut exports from the country.

"US intelligence has previously highlighted the risk to the Kharg Island oil export facilities, which function as a central nervous system for Iran's oil sector and handle around 90% of the country's 1.7 mb/d of crude exports," said Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy and MENA research at RBC Capital Markets.

To be sure, Iran's exports could be quickly replaced. OPEC+ is sitting on more than six-million barrels per day of shut-in production from quota cuts. As well, Libya is set to return around 750,000 barrels per day of exports that were suspended amid a now-settled dispute between the country's two competing governments and demand prior to the attack was already weak.

However the attack came with institutional interest in oil futures near a record low and the war fears may have prompted a return of speculative buyers to the commodity despite weak fundamentals.

"The move higher was possibly amplified by the massive amount of speculative money sitting on the sidelines waiting for an ostensibly reasonable excuse to get back into oil. This excuse is deemed to be the fast-approaching boiling point in the hostilities between Iran and Israel. Hence the relentless jump but it must be kept in mind that this money, if winds change, can leave the sector quicker than you can say ayatollah," PVM Oil Associates noted.