PERTH/ BEIJING (News Agency) – Brent oil prices jumped more than $3 a barrel on Monday, initially spooked by Israel’s launch of renewed strikes on Lebanon a day earlier, but also gaining further steam after sounds of explosions were heard in Iran.
Sounds of blasts were heard – in Tehran, Tabriz and Isfahan, local media reported early on Monday, eroding hopes for an imminent end to the wider war and a restart to crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz.Brent crude futures rose $3.20 or 3.39% to $96.24 a barrel while U.S. crude futures were up $2.87 or 3.17% at $93.41 per barrel as of 0333 GMT.
Those gains erased Friday’s losses, when prices fell on hopes of a de-escalation in the U.S.-Iran conflict, which has seen oil prices rise over 50% since March.
Though Iran on Sunday fired a salvo of missiles at Israeli targets in retaliation, U.S. President Donald Trump insisted that an agreement to end the wider war remains well within reach.
Trump also reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from further attacks.
“It’s not going to have any impact on the deal,” Trump told the Financial Times. “I call the shots. I call all the shots. He doesn’t call the shots.”
