They are reacting to reports of further attacks on oil facilities in the Middle East. North Sea Brent crude was up more than six percent shortly after 15:30 CET, approaching $110 a barrel. US light crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up around three percent, climbing above $99 a barrel.

Some facilities belonging to Iran’s oil industry had been attacked. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) called for the evacuation of some oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. “Any further escalation of attacks on energy infrastructure would lead to further price increases,” Ole Hvalbye, an analyst at SEB, said, according to Reuters.

The conflict in the Middle East was triggered in late February by US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Among other things, the conflict has brought shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to a standstill. Around a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supplies normally pass through the strait. Concerns about supply pushed the price of Brent close to $120 a barrel this month, the report added. 

MNA