Oil prices rose Thursday as escalating US-Iran tensions and reported attacks around the Strait of Hormuz raised fears of disruptions to crude supplies, with Iran threatening to target energy infrastructure across the Middle East.

International benchmark Brent crude traded at $96.49 per barrel at 9.44 p.m. local time (0644 GMT), up 2.6% from the previous close of $94.07.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $88.42 per barrel, up around 1.9% from $86.80 in the previous session.

The gains came after Iran’s military warned late Wednesday that it would target energy facilities across the region if the US continued strikes on Iranian infrastructure.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Thursday that it had attacked US military bases in Kuwait and Jordan. The IRGC also said an oil tanker was hit by an explosion in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting two other vessels to abandon transit through a southern shipping lane that it said had been mined.

The developments added to concerns over security in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil shipping chokepoint, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil consumption passes.

The US military said late Wednesday that it had carried out another round of strikes on Iranian military targets, marking the 12th consecutive night of operations. Iranian media reported explosions at several locations in the country’s southwest and south, including damage to a power station near the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said the Strait of Hormuz would not return to pre-war conditions, warning that if Iran could not export its oil, no other country in the region would be able to do so.

Separately, Yemen’s Houthi group said it had targeted two Saudi oil tankers with missiles and drones, adding to concerns over the security of regional energy shipments.

Limiting gains, data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that commercial crude oil inventories rose by 2 million barrels last week to 411.7 million barrels, compared with market expectations for a 2 million-barrel draw, suggesting that demand remained weaker than anticipated.

Gasoline inventories increased by 800,000 barrels, while the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by 5.1 million barrels to 311.4 million barrels.

By Ebru Sengul Cevrioglu

Anadolu Agency

energy@aa.com.tr



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