By Ronnie Harui and Kimberley Kao
Oil prices rose in Asian trade Monday amid growing doubts that the Strait of Hormuz can reopen soon, bolstering concerns over supply disruptions in the Middle East.
A top Iranian official made tough demands for the strait's reopening, while the United Arab Emirates said Iran launched a missile attack on one of its ships. Both developments threaten to derail a potential deal to reopen the strait, a key waterway through which one-fifth of the world's oil is transported.
Among Tehran's demands, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the U.S. would need to withdraw its forces, end all sanctions, and free Iran's frozen assets, according to a report on state news agency IRNA.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures rose 0.1% to $78.29 a barrel and front-month Brent crude oil futures gained 0.3% to $83.80 a barrel, ICE data showed.
