Oil prices jumped more than 3 per cent on Thursday after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted a US airbase in response to a US attack near Bandar Abbas airport.
Brent crude futures rose $3.51, or 3.72 per cent, to $97.8 a barrel by 0344 GMT, while the more active August contract gained $3.35 or 3.63 per cent, to $95.6. The July contract is set to expire on Friday. The US West Texas Intermediate futures were up $3.31, or 3.73 per cent, at $91.99.
Both benchmarks slipped more than 5 per cent to touch their lowest in a month in the previous session on the possibility of a US-Iran deal to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday they targeted a US airbase after what they described as an early morning US attack near Bandar Abbas airport, Tasnim news agency reported.
They warned that any repeat of what they called aggression would draw a “more decisive” response.
The US military launched new strikes in Iran targeting a military site that officials believed posed a threat to US forces and commercial maritime traffic in the strait, a US official told Reuters.
“Oil supply remains constrained, and key sticking points have yet to be resolved,” ANZ commodity strategist Daniel Hynes said in a note.
In the US, crude oil stockpiles fell by 2.8 million barrels last week, the sixth straight week of declines, according to American Petroleum Institute data.
Official inventory data from the US Energy Information Administration are due on Thursday, a day later than usual due to the Memorial Day holiday on Monday.