Crude oil futures retreated from early morning highs in the mid-afternoon trade in Asia Wednesday but remained supported after Iran launched missiles on two US military bases in Iraq in retaliation to the US drone strikes last week. At 2:20 pm Singapore time (0620 GMT), the front month March ICE Brent crude futures was up 66 cents/b (0.97%) from Tuesday’s settle at $68.93/b, while the NYMEX February light sweet crude contract was 46 cents/b (0.73%) higher at $63.16/b. ICE Brent crude futures pared some gains from the morning highs, which touched as high as $71.75/b but fell to high $68/b on limited impact from Iran’s missile retaliation on US bases in Iraq. Related article: March ICE Brent spikes more than $3/b as Iranian missiles strike US bases in Iraq Infographic: Strait of Hormuz shipping rates […]