Oil prices surpassed $70 a barrel on Monday for the first time in more than three months as the US warned of increased threats to energy facilities in the Middle East, after the assassination of an Iranian general last week. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 2.1 percent at $70.07 in early European trading, having risen as high as $70.74 in Asian trade. Brent has climbed more than percent since US airstrikes killed Qassem Soleimani in Iraq on Friday.
The latest gains followed a weekend of threats between Washington and Tehran, bringing the pair closer to conflict and rising tensions throughout the Middle East. Crude last traded briefly above $70 a barrel in September after strikes – which the US blamed on Iran – temporarily knocked out half of Saudi Arabia’s oil production.
Soleimani was the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ overseas forces and controlled the regime’s extensive influence across Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. The US state department warned on Sunday that there was an increased risk of attacks on oil facilities and other targets in Saudi Arabia, amid widespread expectations Iran would retaliate for the killing of Soleimani. Following the assassination, Iran said it would no longer abide by any of its commitments to the 2015 nuclear accord it signed with world powers.
The price of West Texas Intermediate, the US marker, strengthened on Monday by 1.7 per cent to $64.15.