SINGAPORE – Oil prices witnessed a significant increase as the benchmark crude prices climbed closer to the $100-per-barrel level as the exchange of strikes between the United States and Iran added to escalating tensions in the Middle East.
WTI Crude was trading at $94.43 per barrel, up $1.40, or 1.50 percent.
Brent Crude, a key international benchmark, stood at $99.46 per barrel, gaining $1.54, or 1.57%. The move placed Brent just below the psychologically important $100-per-barrel mark.
Murban Crude recorded an even stronger increase, rising $4.00, or 3.75%, to $110.80 per barrel.
The rise in crude prices came amid an exchange of strikes between US and Iranian forces, as tensions in the Middle East continued to escalate.
IRGC Strikes US Base in Jordan
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed that it targeted a US military base in Jordan after American attacks on Iranian oil tankers.
The IRGC said ballistic missiles were used to target the US base located in Al-Azraq, Jordan. However, there was no immediate confirmation from Jordan regarding the reported attack and damages at the US base.
The IRGC also claimed to have targeted two US Navy destroyers and said that hangars used by F-35 and F-15 fighter aircraft at the US facility in Jordan were among the targets.
The Iranian force further claimed that two US vessels and eight oil tankers in the Gulf had been targeted, saying the attacks were intended to inflict what it described as significant damage on the United States.
US Army Destroys 5 Iranian Oil Tankers
US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces said they had destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the past two days.
The US warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol regional waters. No American personnel were harmed.
“In response to Iran’s most recent failed attacks, CENTCOM destroyed the IRGC crude oil carriers M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1, and M/T Riesco in the Gulf of Oman as well as M/T Derya near Kharg Island. American forces directed the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were struck and rendered inoperable,” read official statement.
Iran has used the tankers as part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies. Iran has no means by which to defend these vessels.
