TEHRAN (Iran News) – Oil prices rose over 1% on Monday, pushing Brent above $70 a barrel, as rhetoric from the United States, Iran and Iraq increased tensions in the Middle East after a US airstrike killed a top Iranian military commander. Oil prices of Brent crude futures LCOc1 soared to a high of $70.74 […]
TEHRAN (Iran News) – Oil prices rose over 1% on Monday, pushing Brent above $70 a barrel, as rhetoric from the United States, Iran and Iraq increased tensions in the Middle East after a US airstrike killed a top Iranian military commander.
Oil prices of Brent crude futures LCOc1 soared to a high of $70.74 a barrel and was at $69.38 at 1150 GMT, up 78 cents, or more than 1%, from Friday’s settlement between Iran and US, Reuters reported.
US West Texas Intermediate CLc1 crude was at $63.64 a barrel, up 59 cents, or 0.9%, after touching $64.72, the highest since April.
The gains extended Friday’s more than 3% surge after the US assassinated Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani on Friday, heightening concerns about an escalation in conflict in the Middle East and the possible impact on oil supplies.
The region accounts for nearly half of the world’s oil production, while a fifth of the world’s oil shipments passes through the Strait of Hormuz.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose sanctions on Iraq, the second-largest producer among the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), if US troops were forced to withdraw from the country.
Baghdad earlier called on the US and other foreign troops to leave Iraq.
Trump also said that the United States would retaliate against Iran if Tehran were to strike back after the US assassination of Gen. Soleimani.
“The situation brings lots of uncertainty and geopolitical tea-leaf reading on reactions. While the closure of the Strait of Hormuz remains a very unlikely event, the deterioration in Iraq bears supply risks,” said Norbert Rucker, head of economics at Swiss bank Julius Baer.
- source : Iran Daily, Irannews
