New Delhi, June 23
Oil prices rose to their highest level since January this year on Monday after the US strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran, with the country threatening to shut Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20 per cent of global crude supply flows.
Brent crude futures was up $1.92 or 2.49 per cent at $78.93 a barrel early on Monday. US West Texas Intermediate crude increased $1.89 or 2.56 per cent to $75.73.
Brent crude prices surged as much as 5 per cent. However, prices could not sustain at those levels and pared the early advance almost immediately.
Crude oil prices extended gains for a third straight week amid rising geopolitical tensions and a sharper-than-expected drawdown in US inventories.
The ongoing hostilities between Israel and Iran have heightened supply concerns across the Middle East, a region critical to global oil exports.
According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), crude stockpiles dropped by 11.5 million barrels last week — significantly higher than the anticipated 2.3 million-barrel decline.