Oil prices jump 6% on UAE, vessel attacks

Oil prices jumped about 6% on Monday as Iran stepped up attacks on the United Arab Emirates and ships in the Middle East Gulf over the past 24 hours.

Brent futures rose $6.79, or 6.3%, to $114.96 per barrel at 1654 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $4.23, or 4.2%, to $106.17. A South Korean ship was hit by an explosion in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and Iranian drones caused a fire at a UAE oil port, as Tehran demonstrated its grip on Middle East oil after US President Donald Trump said his Navy would open the strait.

The US military said it destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and drones fired by Tehran as the US launched an operation to free up shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, US Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of Central Command, said on Monday. Iranian military officials, meanwhile, denied that Iranian small boats were sunk.

About 20% of global oil and LNG supplies passed through the strait before the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy issued a map that it said was expanding the areas controlled by Iran near the Strait of Hormuz to include the UAE's ports of Fujairah and Khorfakkan as well as the coast of Umm Al Quwain emirate in the UAE, according to Iranian news agencies.