Oil prices jump 4% after US air strike

Mumbai: Global oil prices jumped over 3 per cent on Friday after a US airstrike ordered by President Donald Trump killed a top Iranian general in Iraq.

The sharp jump followed the attack over fears of conflict between two of the worlds largest oil producing nations.

Global benchmark, Brent, was trading 3.20 per cent higher at $68.37 a barrel during the early hours on Friday. The Brent had surged as much as 4.4 per cent earlier while the WTI also gained over 4 per cent to 63.84.

Domestic oil prices are already on the rise in India. Besides, Indian imports over 80 per cent of its oil requirement.

Iraq is the largest crude supplier to India. The Basra crude is regarded as one of the best in terms of quality and ideally suited for Indian refineries.

According to data sourced from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, Iraq sold 46.61 million tonnes of crude oil to India during April 2018 and March 2019.

This was 2 per cent more than 45.74 million tonnes it had supplied in 2017-18 fiscal, making it the top supplier for the second year in a row.

India provisionally imported 207.3 million tonnes of crude oil in 2018-19, down from 220.4 million tonnes in the previous financial year.

Published on: Jan 3, 2020 at 14:00 IST

IANS