SINGAPORE: Oil prices extended gains on Wednesday as fears of further supply disruptions intensified after US forces struck Iranian military targets for the 11th straight night, while oil tankers made U-turns in the Red Sea after warnings by Iran-backed Houthi militia.
Brent crude futures rose $1, or 1.1 percent, to $92.01 a barrel at 06:30 a.m. Saudi time. US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 82 cents, or 1 percent, to $85.16.
The gains came after oil settled at a five-week high on Tuesday in the wake of US forces striking targets in southern and western Iran, while Iran attacked US facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.
The US military said it began its latest strikes on Iran late on Tuesday in the US, or early Wednesday in Iran. The US attacks came a short while after the Kuwaiti army said its air defences were intercepting Iranian drones on Wednesday.
The constant trading of strikes have raised fears of further disruptions to global energy supplies after Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis opened a new front in the Iran war by threatening to target vessels carrying Saudi oil in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and announcing a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia.
