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Brent crude hits $100 a barrel for first time since May
Brent rose more than 5% after attacks in the Red Sea and increased US strikes against Iran stoked fresh fears for global supply routes.
Oil prices pushed above $100 a barrel for the first time since May, with Brent crude rising more than 5% on Thursday as escalation in the Middle East renewed concerns about global energy supplies, according to BBC Business.
BBC Business said prices climbed after Houthi militia attacked oil tankers in the Red Sea, threatening a key export route that Saudi Arabia has used to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. The outlet also cited a wider intensification of US military action, including stepped up strikes against Iran, and noted that a temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran has failed.
The article also pointed to rising gas costs, saying the benchmark UK gas price was around 150 pence per therm, up from around 98p per therm on 26 June. BBC Business reported that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said three tankers abandoned an attempt to pass through Hormuz after an explosion aboard one of them caused it to catch fire.
The New York Times said the rebound reflects traders’ growing concern that the war is expanding beyond the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, lifting the risk premium on oil supplies.
Latest closeWTI crude $87.52 ▲3.1%|Brent $94.43 ▲3.8%