Oil set for 4th straight monthly gains

Tanker attack in Hormuz highlights supply risks

HOUSTON:

Oil prices rose on Friday to their highest levels since the end of April, putting them on track for a fourth straight month of gains, as traders braced for a potential escalation in the US-Iran war after the US midterm elections, with an attack on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz highlighting supply risks.

Brent crude futures for December, which expired on Friday, were up $2.28, or 2.5%, at $117.75 a barrel as of 1707 GMT, after touching a high of $118. The more active January contract gained $3.23 to $114.03. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed $2.74, or 2.7%, to $104.79. For the month, Brent was on course to finish 13% higher, while WTI was heading for a 15% jump.

"Traders will remain focused on oil flows out of the Middle East and the likely escalation by the US and allied forces," said Dennis Kissler, Senior Vice President of Trading at BOK Financial.

On Friday, a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz – the key sea outlet for Gulf crude and fuel supplies – was hit by explosive devices attached by a small boat, said the UKMTO, the British maritime security service. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack. It was the first known successful strike using limpet mines, explosives that are attached to a ship's hull from a small boat, in the waterway since the US-Israel war with Iran began in February, maritime sources said.