Oil prices rose on Monday following days of tit-for-tat strikes by the U.S. and Iran that underscored the fragility of their interim peace deal and again slowed energy shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures climbed 45 cents, or 0.6%, to $72.44 a barrel at 0627 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $70.05 a barrel, up 82 cents, or 1.2%, Reuters reported. "There's still plenty of risk facing the oil market. Even so, participants appear to be ... focusing on what a continued recovery in oil flows would mean for the global balance," ING analysts said in a note on Monday. "This complacency is odd and clearly leaves significant upside risk if the supply recovery proves slow." Brent crude fell 10.6% last week, its third weekly decline, after crude shipments through the strait rose last week to their highest level since the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February. However, traffic has since slowed following renewed attacks on ships in the strait from Thursday that triggered strikes from the US and Iran in the worst escalation since they signed an interim peace deal. Capping oil price gains, Iran and the US agreed to halt recent hostilities in the Gulf and renew talks regarding their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a US official said on Sunday.
