Brent Breaks $96 as U.S. Strikes Iran for 12th Consecutive Night

The latest oil price rally showed no sign of stopping in early Asian trading on Thursday, with both benchmarks climbing to their highest levels in more than six weeks as the U.S. and Iran continued to exchange strikes. At the time of writing, WTI crude was trading at $88.25 per barrel, up 1.64% on the session, while Brent crude had gained 2.10% to trade at $96.05 per barrel. The price rise came as the U.S. launched its 12th consecutive wave of strikes against Iranian military targets, while Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis intensified threats against oil shipping in the Red Sea, and the IRGC claimed an oil tanker had caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz. According to U.S. Central Command CENTCOM, American forces began a fresh round of strikes at 530 p.m.