Oil tops $100 a barrel as Mideast conflict escalates

SINGAPORE - Benchmark ⁠Brent ⁠crude oil futures rose ​past $100 a barrel on Wednesday, breaching the symbolic barrier for ​the first time ‌since July 24 as intensifying conflict in the Middle East fuelled growing concern about supplies.

Brent crude futures were up $2.15, or 2.2%, to $100.07 a barrel as of mid-afternoon in Asia, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.70, or 1.8%, at $94.73.

Brent crude prices have risen by 25% ‌since early last month as hopes fade for a permanent resolution to the six-month-old US-Iran conflict.

Before the first Israeli and US strikes on Iran on Feb 28, oil was trading at around $70 a barrel.

This week, attacks by Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi ⁠energy facilities set oil installations ablaze, threatening a significant expansion of the conflict.

The Houthi attacks could threaten crude shipments via the Red Sea, which has been a key alternative route to the crucial Strait of ​Hormuz, where crude flows have been severely curtailed since the start of the Iran ​war.

A growing ‌number of banks, including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and HSBC, have raised their crude price ​forecasts ⁠in recent days.

In the week before a resumption in fighting on Aug 30, roughly 8 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil had flowed through Hormuz, double the previous week’s volume, according to Rystad Energy, although more recently ⁠it had fallen below 2 million bpd.

While non-Opec oil ​producers including the United States, Canada and Guyana have ramped up output, the International Energy Agency said last month that it expected global oil supply would ‌fall this year ⁠by 4.3 million bpd, ​or about 4%.