OREANDA-NEWSThe cost of a barrel of North Sea Brent for the first time since the end of May exceeded $ 70. This happened against the backdrop of an escalation of the situation in the Middle East after the assassination of Baghdad, Iranian General Kassem Suleimani. In the course of trading in London, the price of a barrel of Brent around 4:15 Moscow time reached $ 70.16, which is 2.08% higher than the previous trading day, according to Investing.com.

Last Friday, when prices rose on the news of the Suleymani assassination, Energy Aspects analyst Amrita Sen in a CNBC interview noted that market volatility is due to the lack of an answer to the question of how Iran will respond to Suleymani’s death. She did not rule out a possible blow to oil facilities in the Persian Gulf region, like an attack on the Saudi Aramco plant.

The last time a barrel of Brent was worth more than $ 70 at the end of May. Then the rise in oil prices was also associated with events in the Persian Gulf. In mid-May, the United States accused Tehran of assaulting two tankers in the UAE, and the Iranian military threatened to "send to the bottom" American ships.