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Oil rose sharply in Asia trading, following renewed tensions in the Middle East after Iran launched an attack on American forces, while the U.S. along with the Saudis struck Tehran-backed sites in Iraq.
Futures for international benchmark Brent crude for September delivery gained 3.48% to $87.02 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures advanced 3.34% to $81.91 per barrel.
“Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempted surprise attack on U.S. forces based in the Middle East,” according to a post on X by the U.S. Central Command.
U.S. and Saudi forces also struck “multiple terrorist logistics and weapons sites” in eastern Iraq on Tuesday stateside, retaliating against more than 30 drone attacks in the past three days by “Iran-aligned terrorists,” Centcom said.
Brent crude
Separately, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported “suspicious activity,” in the Red Sea early in a post on X. Without giving more details, the agency said that the master of a tanker heard an explosion whilst transiting in the southern Red Sea. The advisory was issued on Tuesday, while the incident was reported on Monday.
Houthi attacks targeting Saudi oil facilities have also raised supply concerns. Houthi strikes on oil production, storage and port infrastructure could disrupt supply across the region, Bjorn Vang Jensen, Executive Industry Advisor at Xeneta said on CNBC’s “Access Middle East” on Tuesday.
“The spike in oil prices has been compounded by Chairman Kevin Warsh’s somewhat hawkish tone at his first FOMC meeting as Fed chair, and traders remain split on the central bank’s decision due Wednesday,” according to Kitco.
—CNBC’s Lim Hui Jie contributed to the report.
Correction: This story was updated to fix delivery month for futures.
