Oil prices rose by more than 2% on Friday after the US and Iran stepped up attacks across the Gulf, with shipping threatened by a potential Red Sea closure on top of the restricted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures rose by $1.77, or 2.1%, to $86 a barrel by 1158 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate futures were up $1.91, or 2.4%, at $80.86. Both benchmarks have climbed about 13% this week, with Brent on track for a third consecutive weekly gain and WTI set for its second. Diesel refining margins hit record highs on Friday, with low-sulphur gasoil futures touching $66.25 over Brent crude. The Middle East is a major diesel exporter and the Hormuz closure, as well as attacks on oil refineries, have tightened fuel markets and bolstered prices globally. The broken truce between the US and Iran has resulted in a drop in oil flows out of the strait. Iran said it launched fresh strikes on US facilities in the Middle East on Friday, including the first direct attack in Syria, after a sixth straight night of US strikes on Iranian military facilities. US Central Command said on Thursday that American forces had begun a new wave of strikes against Iran to further degrade Iranian military capabilities. "Oil security is still a critical issue," International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol said on Thursday at a Council on Foreign Relations event in Washington. "We should be worried, and I am worried, if the situation does not improve in the next few weeks," he said.
