Oil prices up 2 pct as Middle East tensions escalate

ANKARA-Anadolu Agency

Crude oil prices were up around 2 percent at trading start on Jan. 6 with escalated tensions in the Middle East risking secure crude oil supply from the region.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $70.17 per barrel at 0630 GMT for a 2.3 percent jump after it closed on Jan. 3 at $68.60 a barrel with a 3.55 percent increase in intraday trading.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was trading at $64.31 a barrel for a 2 percent gain at the same time after ending on Jan.3 at $63.05 per barrel with a 3.06 percent intraday trading rise.

"... Should Iran strike any U.S. person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner," U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter on Jan. 5.

The rising tensions come amid the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, after which Iraq's parliament also passed a resolution calling on the government to remove all U.S. troops from their country.

Trump told reporters on Jan. 5 if the Iraqi government forces the removal of U.S. forces, Baghdad would face “sanctions like they've never seen before."