Oil rises 1% onIran-Israel tensions

Oil prices rose about 1% on Friday to a one-week high on reports Iran was preparing a retaliatory strike on Israel from Iraq in the coming days.

Brent futures gained $1.02, or 1.4%, to $73.83 a barrel by 1459 GMT on Friday, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up $1.05, or 1.5%, at $70.31.

That put both crude benchmarks higher for a third day in a row and on track for their highest closes since October 25.

For the week, however, both contracts were still down about 3% after gaining 4% last week.

US news website Axios reported on Thursday that Israeli intelligence suggests that Iran is preparing to attack Israel from Iraq within days, citing two unidentified Israeli sources.

"Any additional responses from Iran might remain restrained, similar to Israel's limited strike last weekend, hence primarily intended as a demonstration of strength rather than an invitation to open warfare," said SEB Research analyst Ole Hvalbye.

Iran and Israel have engaged in a series of tit-for-tat strikes within the broader Middle East warfare set off by fighting in Gaza. Previous Iranian air attacks on Israel on October 1 and in April were mostly repelled, with only minor damage.

Iran is a member of the OPEC and produced about 4 million bpd of oil in 2023, US EIA data showed.