Oil Headed For Sharp Weekly Gain As Middle East Conflict Escalates

(RTTNews) - Oil prices traded higher on Friday and headed for a sharp weekly gain amid escalating Middle East tensions as both the U.S. and Iran intensified military confrontation over control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures were up 1.2 percent at $85.24 a barrel and headed for a weekly gain of more than 10 percent as shipping traffic slumped through the Strait of Hormuz. WTI crude futures surged 1.6 percent to $80.17.

Tehran launched strikes against several countries across the Gulf and wider region after the U.S. launched a wave of strikes against Iran for the sixth night in a row.

State media reported that the U.S. had hit civilian infrastructure, including bridges, a train station and an airport.

An oil tanker near the country's main export terminal was hit for the first time since reimposing a blockade on Iranian ports.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) reportedly hit targets in Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain amid an expanding regional confrontation.

They also claimed to have attacked a U.S. special operations command center in Syria.

Tehran has reportedly asked Yemen's Houthi rebels to be ready to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical route for Saudi Arabia's oil exports through the Red Sea, if the United States attacks Iranian power infrastructure.

The weapons have been positioned in Yemen's highlands overlooking Hodeidah and the Gulf of Aden, and the Houthis is waiting for orders to begin operations, it was said.