Oil prices rise after attacks on two oil tanker ships

Oil prices rose on Friday in Asia after two oil tanker ships off the coast of Iran were attacked.

It wasn’t clear who was responsible for the latest hit. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of carrying out the attacks, calling the Islamic Republic “a threat to international peace and stability”. An Iranian official was quoted saying by BBC that Tehran had “nothing to do” with the attacks.

U.S. Crude Oil WTI Futures were up 0.4% to $52.47 by 12:40 AM ET (04:40 GMT). International Brent Oil Futures gained 0.7% to $61.72.

Oil prices were under pressure earlier this week after weekly data showed another big jump in U.S. crude stockpiles. Ongoing demand fears amid Sino-U.S. trade tension were also cited as a headwind.

In other news, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Thursday cut its forecast for oil demand growth in 2019 from 1.21 million barrels per day (bpd) to 1.14 million bpd. The cartel noted that “significant downside risks from escalating trade disputes spilling over to global demand growth remain.”

“In my opinion, this is significant news and should not be faded though it’s not very impressive that we have yet to even surpass yesterday’s losses,” said Scott Shelton, energy futures broker at ICAP (LON:NXGN) in Durham, N.C. “Get ready for lots of misinformation and media coverage that know very little about oil which will only add to the volatility.”

Elsewhere, citing Russian energy minister Alexander Novak, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported that OPEC and other producers including Russia are in talks to cooperate on oil supplies on a long-term basis.