Oil prices jumped more than 2% on Friday after Iranian media said a state-owned oil tanker had been struck by missiles in the Red Sea near Saudi Arabia, raising the prospect of supply disruptions weeks after attacks on Saudi oil plants.
The Suezmax crude tanker Sabiti was ablaze and suffered heavy damage after being hit by two missiles, Iranian media reported.
Both oil benchmarks recorded their biggest daily rise since Sept. 16, the first trading day after the attacks on Saudi installations pushed oil prices up around 20%, Reuters reported.
International benchmark Brent crude futures were up$1.39, or around 2.4%, at $60.49 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose $1.16 to $54.71 a barrel.
“Spare capacity remains fragile and with supply chain vulnerability a worrying concern at virtually every Middle East oilfield, traders continue to hedge supply risk premium,” said Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific market strategist at AxiTrader.
The Sept. 14 attacks on two Saudi Arabian oil-processing plants knocked out more than half of the kingdom’s crude output.
Tensions in the Middle East have escalated in the wake of attacks on tankers and US drones in the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping artery of the global oil trade.
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