Oil Jumps more than 2% on Reports of Iran Preparing Strike against Israel

Oil prices rose more than 2% on Friday after reports that Iran was preparing to strike from Iraq in retaliation against Israel in the coming days, although both benchmarks were on track for weekly losses.

Brent crude futures were up $1.72, or 2.4%, at $74.53 a barrel by 10:24 GMT.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up $1.76, or 2.5%, at $71.02 a barrel.

Latest Oil Prices:

WTI Crude • 69.46 +0.20 +0.29%

Brent Crude • 73.05 +0.24 +0.33%

Murban Crude • 72.46 +0.61 +0.85%

Louisiana Light • 2 days 71.06 +0.40 +0.57%

Bonny Light • 78.62 -2.30 -2.84%

Mars US • 74.75 -1.30 -1.71%

Axios reported on Thursday that Israeli intelligence indicated that Iran was preparing to attack Israel from Iraqi territory in the coming days, possibly before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5.

The two countries have been exchanging blows as the war in the Middle East widens. Iran’s air strikes on Israel on Oct. 1 and in April were mostly repelled and caused only minor damage.

Brent crude is expected to end the week down about 2% after falling 6% on Monday following Israel’s Oct. 26 strike on Iran’s oil and nuclear facilities.

Oil prices are also supported by expectations that OPEC+ may delay a planned increase in oil production in December by a month or more, amid concerns about weak oil demand and rising supplies.