FTSE 100 Live: Stocks rise despite IEA warning of ‘critical’ oil issue
Welcome back to the City PM liveblog.
Oil is on track to gain around 12 per cent for the week after the continued escalation of strikes between the US and Iran.
Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil – is holding steady around the $85 per barrel mark after US’ multiple strike offensives against Iran this week. This included hitting an oil tanker near the country’s main export terminal.
Iran’s state news agency has reported overnight that there were seven people killed in the US’ latest round of action that targeted bridges in the south of the country.
The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) has sounded the alarm on the rising oil prices on the back of traffic halting through the Strait of Hormuz after conflict ramped back up.
“Oil security is still a critical issue,” Fatih Birol told a Council on Foreign Relations event.
“We should be worried, and I am worried if the situation does not improve in the next few weeks.”
US marines boarded a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz last night on the grounds of “verification”.
The country’s central command said shortly after: “The Strait of Hormuz and the surrounding waters remain free and open, except for vessels attempting to violate America’s steel wall blockade.”
The regime in Tehran has branded the crucial shipping lane an “invincible red line” and said it will not allow any US interference in the waterway.
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