Crude oil prices spiked by 4% on
Friday upon news that a top Iranian general was killed in an airstrike by the
United States military.
Brent crude futures, the
international benchmark for crude oil, stood at $69.01 per barrel, an increase
of 4.17%.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
also stood at $63.34 per barrel, a 4% increase.
The Pentagon said the attack was
carried out on the order of President Donald Trump to deter “future Iranian
attack plans”.
It added that Soleimani was
killed because he “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats
and service members in Iraq and throughout the region”.
The airstrike comes days after an
Iran-backed militia and its supporters breached the US embassy in Baghdad.
Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces
(PMF) confirmed that Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of the force, was also
among those “martyred by an American strike”.
In September, oil prices
increased by 14% after coordinated attacks were carried out on Saudi Arabia’s
oil facilities which cut off 5% of global oil supplies.
