Brent rises for second day after Iran seizes British tanker

Brent prices continued to rise as the US market opened on Monday, to continue gains for a second straight day on the renewed concerns over the safety of shipping and navigation in the Gulf region, especially after Iran seized a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

By 12:30 GMT, Brent crude rose to $63.40 per barrel from the opening price of $62.60, recording a high of $64.01 and a low of $62.60.

Brent crude rose 0.5% on Friday, its first gain in six days, recovering from a four-week low of $61.32 per barrel.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said on Friday it had seized a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for Britain's seizure of an Iranian tanker earlier this month.

The incident renewed concerns about the safety of the shipping and navigation operations in the Persian Gulf, which threatens to disrupt a fifth of the world's oil supplies.

Crude oil shipments from Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, fell in May to their lowest level in a year and a half, data showed.

Iran's takeover of the crude tanker in the world's main oil trade corridor is the latest escalation in the last three months of confrontation with the West, which began when new tougher US sanctions on Tehran entered into force in early May.

On the other hand, Goldman Sachs on Sunday lowered its forecast for crude oil demand growth in 2019 to 1.275 million bpd from 1.45 million barrels per day at the beginning of the year, as well as slowing global economic activity.