Oil prices shot more than 2 per cent higher on Monday, with Brent rising above $70 a barrel, after US President Donald Trump issued a threat to impose sanctions on Iraq amid escalating tensions with Iran in the Middle East.
Brent crude futures soared to a high of $70.27 a barrel at 0222 GMT, up $1.67, or 2.4 per cent, from Friday’s settlement.
US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $64.39 a barrel, up $1.34, or 2.1 per cent, after touching $64.44 earlier, the highest since April.
The gains extended Friday’s more-than-3 per cent surge after a US air strike in Iraq killed top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani on Friday. The killing has heightened concerns of a widening Middle East conflict that could disrupt oil supplies from a region that accounts for nearly half of the world’s oil production.
