Oil prices rose more than 3% on Monday after Iran and the United States (US) traded strikes and Israel ordered troops to move further into Lebanon in its battle with Tehran-backed Hezbollah.
US crude futures rose $2.88 or 3.3% to $90.24 a barrel. Brent futures rose $2.78 or 3.05% to $93.9 a barrel.
The fighting, after Washington hosted Israel-Lebanon peace talks on Friday, dimmed hopes that the US and Iran could soon announce an extension to their ceasefire, which had driven Brent and West Texas Intermediate to settle down 1.8% and 1.7%, respectively, on Friday.
The US said on Sunday it conducted “self-defence strikes” on radar and drone control sites in Iran’s Goruk and Qeshm Island over the weekend in what it said was a response to “aggressive” actions by Tehran.
Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Monday its aerospace force targeted an air base used in what it called a US attack on a telecoms tower on Sirik Island.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would soon decide on a proposed deal to extend a ceasefire announced in early April, giving negotiators more time to seek a permanent end to the war and find a solution to the underlying dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme.
–Reuters–
