Oil soars to $100 on fresh Mideast attacks

Vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, off the Omani port city of Khasab. (Photo: AFP)

LONDON - Oil prices surged to $100 a barrel on Thursday as Tehran-backed Houthi rebels targeted Red Sea shipping and US President Donald Trump threatened to strike them in return.International benchmark oil contract Brent North Sea soared more than six percent to hit the symbolic $100 level, as the attacks potentially opened a new front in the Middle East war and Trump threatened the Houthis with "major military punishment".

Iran meanwhile vowed to continue striking the Gulf region so long as it remains under attack from US strikes.

Saudi Arabia had been using the Red Sea to export millions of barrels of oil that normally flowed through the Strait of Hormuz, so the closure of that shipping channel would remove more oil from the market.

There are "no signs of a peace deal emerging as the United States and Iran start to dig in and fears rise about choke points for certain fuel supplies", noted Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo.