Brent crude rises above $100 a barrel as Middle East conflict escalates

SINGAPORE (REUTERS) -- Benchmark Brent crude oil futures rose past $100 a barrel on Wednesday, breaching the symbolic barrier for the first time ​since July 24 as intensifying conflict in the Middle ‌East fuelled growing concern about oil flows from the region.

Brent crude futures rose $2.15, or 2.2%, to $100.07 a barrel by 0721 GMT, while US West ​Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.70, or 1.83%, at $94.73 a ​barrel.

Brent crude prices have risen by a quarter since ⁠early last month as hopes fade for a permanent resolution ​to the six-month-old US-Iran conflict.

This week, attacks by Houthis ​on Saudi energy facilities set oil installations ablaze, threatening a significant expansion of the conflict.

The Houthi attacks could threaten crude shipments via the Red Sea, which ​has been a key alternative route to the crucial Strait ​of Hormuz, where crude flows have been severely curtailed since the February ‌28 ⁠start of the Iran war.

A growing number of banks, including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and HSBC, have raised their crude price forecasts in recent days.

In the week before a resumption in fighting ​on August 30, ​roughly 8 ⁠million to 9 million bpd had flowed through Hormuz, double the previous week’s volume, according to ​Rystad Energy’s Chief Economist Claudio Galimberti, although more ​recently ⁠it had fallen below 2 million bpd.

While non-OPEC oil producers including the United States, Canada and Guyana have ramped up output, the ⁠International ​Energy Agency said last month it expected ​global oil supply would fall this year by 4.3 million bpd, or about ​4%.