Oil prices rise by 3%

Oil prices rose by more than 3% on Wednesday amid escalating tensions in the Middle East following US and Saudi strikes in Iraq and the interception of an Iranian missile attack on US forces, while US crude oil inventories fell.

Giovanni Stavola, an analyst at UBS, said, “The resumption of military strikes in the Middle East, and Iranian officials’ reaffirmation of their desire to control navigation through the Strait of Hormuz amid declining oil flows through the strait, are pushing oil prices higher again.”