Brent Crude Tops $107 After Strike on Iran’s South Pars Gas Field

Brent crude futures rose over 4% on Wednesday after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened energy installations across Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar in retaliation for an attack on Iranian energy facilities, Reuters reported. Benchmark Brent climbed $4.53, or 4.4%, to $107.95 a barrel by 1321 GMT after touching an intraday high of $108.60, maintaining levels above $100 per barrel for four consecutive trading sessions. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude increased $1.91, or 2%, to $98.12.

Iran's Fars news agency reported that storage tanks and gas facilities at the Asaluyeh refinery were struck. SEB analyst Ole Hvalbye stated that the strikes on Iran's South Pars field boosted oil and gas prices, adding that any additional escalations targeting energy infrastructure would continue driving prices upward.

In Iraq, sources at the North Oil Company stated that crude exports resumed via pipeline after Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government reached an agreement to restart flows. Oil officials had previously stated that Iraq was seeking to pump at least 100,000 barrels per day through the export route.

MUFG analyst Soojin Kim noted that market supply relief remains limited, with Iraqi crude production standing at roughly one-third of pre-crisis levels and tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz still largely restricted. Sources indicated that output from Iraq's primary southern oilfields had dropped by 70% to 1.3 million barrels per day.