Two major oil price benchmarks jumped in the early hours of Friday after news broke that Iran’s second most powerful public figure, Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, had been killed in a US airstrike in Baghdad.
Both WTI and Brent jumped by over four percent on the news to $63.80 and $69.19 per barrel respectively.
Also on rt.com US killing of Iranian commander on Iraqi soil violates terms of US stationing troops in the country – Iraqi PMPrices had been rising steadily since their October 2019 lows on rising tension across the Middle East, despite the ongoing glut that has plagued the oil and gas industry for several years.
Meanwhile, Iran's own oil production has been hit hard by US sanctions, dropping by 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) between an average of 3.18 million bpd in 2017 to just 2.102 million bpd in November 2019.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!