Oil at 6-week high as US-Iran tensions escalate - Sarmad
Oil prices rose more than 1.5 percent on Thursday to reach their highest level in over six weeks, as the United States launched a new round of strikes on Iran and Houthi rebels in Yemen targeted oil tankers in the Red Sea.
By 00:11 GMT, Brent crude futures rose by $1.93, or 2 percent, to $96 a barrel, their highest level since June 8. Brent crude had risen by more than $3 to $94.07 a barrel at settlement in the previous session.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose by $1.44, or 1.7 percent, to $88.27 a barrel, following a nearly 3 percent gain on Wednesday.
The U.S. military said it carried out attacks against Iran for the twelfth consecutive night, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to destroy a bridge or power plant in Iran each time it fired on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, escalating tensions in the conflict.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard said an oil tanker caught fire after an explosion while attempting to pass through what it described as a mined route south of the Strait of Hormuz, adding that two other tankers had turned back.
The Revolutionary Guard stated that the strait is under its control and is “completely closed” amid ongoing U.S. operations in the region, warning that it would not allow any tanker to enter or exit the strait without coordination with Iran.
The Houthis, allied with Tehran, opened a new front in the war by threatening to target Saudi oil tankers in the Bab al-Mandab strait and announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis said they carried out a military operation targeting two Saudi oil tankers. Maritime security reports indicated that one of the ships mentioned by the Houthis, the Saudi-flagged tanker Ensilia, was targeted in the Red Sea.
The Houthis said they forced about 10 ships to turn back and return after warning against sailing to Saudi ports. Reuters has not been able to verify this account so far.
The Houthi naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea threatens to disrupt global energy supplies outside the Gulf region, while a spokesperson for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard warned shipping companies on the X platform that the southern route of the Strait of Hormuz is mined.
On the supply side in the United States, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that crude oil inventories rose by 2 million barrels last week, refinery utilization rates declined, and oil exports fell while imports rose.
Analysts in a Reuters poll had expected crude inventories to fall by 1.1 million barrels.
