Oil prices rose Thursday after fresh US military strikes on Iran, the latest test of a fragile ceasefire as diplomatic efforts to end the war continue.
Brent North Sea crude, the global benchmark, gained nearly 2 percent to $96.13 a barrel, AFP reports.
The main US contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), climbed 1.75 percent to $90.23. The rebound followed Wednesday’s declines, when hopes of an imminent deal to avert further hostilities had briefly eased market tensions. The war has halted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz for months, choking global energy flows.
An American official said Thursday morning Hong Kong time that US forces shot down four Iranian drones and struck a control centre in Bandar Abbas, a strategic southern port city.
On Wednesday, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards official said renewed war with the United States was unlikely but warned that Iran remained prepared to respond to any attack.
