Oil futures jump 2% on news of open war in Yemen, Iran seizing oil ship

Colombo (News 1st) - Global oil futures jumped sharply on Friday on news of airstrikes by the US and UK against Houthi cities in Yemen, and news of Iran seizing an oil tanker in the Arabian Sea, foreign media reported.

West Texas Intermediate futures climbed 2% toward $74 per barrel in early trading and Brent futures by 1.5% toward $78 per barrel.

A US-led coalition on Friday launched attacks on 12 targets in Yemen in response to Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. The Houthi Deputy Foreign Minister vowed that they would retaliate.

Meanwhile, IRNA, the official Iranian government news agency, announced that Iranian naval forces on Thursday seized the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker St. Nikolas, laden with 145,000 tonnes of crude oil. The tanker had departed Basra in Iraq and was bound for Turkiye when it was seized just after it entered the Gulf of Oman, between Iran and Oman. It has a crew of 18 Filipinos and one Greek citizen.