Market News

BY  Chris Price

The price of oil surged as Donald Trump ramped up pressure on Iran’s leaders, telling protesters against the country’s regime that “help is on its way”.

Brent crude rose by 2.9pc towards $66 a barrel, its highest level since October, after the US president urged Iranians to “take over your institutions” and “save the names of the killers and abusers”.

Oil had already been pushed higher after Mr Trump announced he would impose 25pc tariffs on goods from any countries “doing business” with Iran.

Protests in Iran have also helped push European gas prices up by 14pc over the last three days, which is the biggest advance since March. Iran is the world’s third largest producer of natural gas, according to the International Energy Agency, behind only Russia and China.

Meanwhile, reports of unidentified drone strikes on three oil tankers in the Black Sea also unnerved eenrgy traders.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the strikes on vessels travelling to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal that loads Kazakh oil into tankers, Reuters reported.

“Geopolitical risk is at an all-time high,” Jeff Currie, an analyst at Carlyle, told Bloomberg TV. “That’s a recipe for a spike in prices now.”