Oil rose in New Year trading after Iran sent a warship into the Red Sea, escalating West Asia tensions, and as the outlook for Chinese crude demand brightened.
Brent crude climbed as much as 2.6 per cent to top $79 a barrel, before paring some of that gains.
The deployment of an Iranian warship comes after the US Navy said it was fired upon when responding to a distress call from a vessel in the Red Sea, the latest flashpoint on the key maritime corridor over the past few weeks. Defence and shipping stocks were also trading higher on Tuesday.
