Oil prices inch toward $100 on renewed Middle East tension

Oil prices surge toward $100 as Houthi attacks, U.S. strikes on Iranian tankers and renewed Middle East tensions rattle markets.

International benchmark Brent crude futures for November delivery were trading at $98.62 a barrel, up 1.61 per cent from the previous close of $97. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for October delivery increased 2.77 per cent to $94 a barrel from $91.48.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Iran would establish a “no-go zone” across and around the Persian Gulf in response to the US blockade of Iran, adding that Tehran’s “operational approach” toward US forces in the region had been fundamentally changed.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran and Oman were in the final stages of reaching an agreement on establishing a safe maritime route through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that Iran would target US oil and natural gas companies in the region if the US targeted Iranian oil tankers.

Markets are being supported by concerns that a prolonged conflict and the possibility of attacks on energy infrastructure and maritime transport in the region could lead to greater disruptions to oil supplies.Fixed income products

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said some energy facilities in the southern part of the country had been targeted and fires broke out in some areas.

According to international media reports, the targeting of Saudi Aramco facilities in Jizan has also heightened concerns over oil supplies.

Following an attack in July on the Jizan Refinery, located on the Red Sea coast near the border with Yemen and with a crude processing capacity of approximately 400,000 barrels per day, oil shipments declined significantly, while no exports from the refinery were reported in August.