Oil rises as US accuses Iran for the two tanker attacks in Gulf of oman

Oil prices rose as the US market opened on Friday to continue gains for a second straight day on supply disruptions concerns from the Gulf region after two giant oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman near the Iranian coast.

By 12:05 GMT, US crude rose to $52.25 per barrel from the opening level of $52.17, recording a high of $52.66 and a low of $51.69.

Brent crude rose to $61.50 a barrel from the opening of $61.22, with a high of $61.97 and a low of $60.73.

US crude gained 2.2% yesterday, and Brent crude gained 2.6%, the first gain in four days, after a suspected attack on two tankers in the Sea of ​​Oman.

Two large oil tankers were targeted by a suppotage attack in the waters of the Sea of ​​Oman near the Iranian coast on Thursday morning, as the official IRNA news agency reported, adding that the two carriers were loaded with crude coming from Gulf countries.

This is the second time in a month that oil tankers have been subjected to a subversive attack in the world's most important oil supply region amid mounting tensions between the United States and Iran. The US government quickly blamed the Iranian regime for yesterday's attacks, but Tehran denied the claim.

Tensions have been rising in the Gulf region since US President Donald Trump withdrew from Iran's nuclear deal in 2015 and imposed sanctions again on Tehran, especially Iran's oil exports.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States thinks that Iran is behind the Thursday's attacks. Iran responded with objections and said it would not bow to what it called psychological warfare.

Oil gains at the moment are being held back due to concerns about a weak growth in global oil demand this year as major institutions continue to lower demand forecasts due to global trade disputes.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Thursday lowered its forecast for growth in world oil demand and pointed to the risk of further reduction, OPEC expects demand to rise by 1.14 million barrels per day this year, which is lower by 70 thousand barrels per day than the forecast in the previous month's report.

On Friday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) trimmed its forecasts for demand growth this year due to global economic concerns. the agency expects demand to grow by 1.2 million bpd in 2019, down by 100,000 bpd from its previous forecast in May.