00:00Oil prices rose to a six-week high on Monday as Iran vowed to strike energy infrastructure across the Middle
00:06East
00:06in response to further U.S. attacks on its assets, the latest escalation in a conflict that has sharply reduced
00:12all supply from the region.
00:14Brent crude futures rose $1.03 or 1.1% to settle at $97.31 a barrel after hitting their
00:22highest point since July 24 at $98.06.
00:27Brent futures settled around 1.30pm local time, about an hour earlier than their usual settlement time due to the
00:34Labor Day holiday in the United States.
00:37U.S.-West Texas Intermediate crude, which will not settle on Monday due to the holiday, was up 1.3%
00:44on $1.17 at $92.65 a barrel by 1.45pm local time.
00:51WTI futures earlier rose as high as $93.29, also the highest since July 24.
00:59Strike our assets and you get struck, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohamed Bakir Khalibaf said on Monday
01:05in what appeared to be a response to U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hexaf warning that Tehran's oil fleet was
01:13defenseless.
01:14The United States and Iran trade strikes on oil tankers and warships over the weekend, marking a major escalation of
01:21the war between the two countries
01:22that began when the U.S. and Israel struck Iran on February 28, maritime intelligence firm Merced.
01:30Commercial tankers are now being deliberately used as instruments of reciprocal economic pressure,
01:35substantially weakening the previous distinction between military confrontation and commercial shipping.
01:41Brand rose around 8% last week and WTI gained nearly 10% after the U.S. and Iran resumed
01:47attacks.
01:49The war has taken a heavy toll on global oil supply, forcing nations to burn through stockpiles to avoid deficits.
01:55PVM energy analysts noted that in the United States, the largest oil producer and consumers, inventories of gasoline and distillate
02:03fuels are stepsentially below year-ago and five-year seasonal averages.
