Oil prices jump on US tightening, Saudi mosque attack
Crude prices jumped more than $2.00 Friday after IS group attack on a mosque in Saudi Arabia.
NEW YORK (AFP) - Crude prices jumped more than $2.00 Friday amid more signs of US tightening and after another deadly attack on Shiites claimed by Islamic State in the heart of Saudi Arabia s oil industry.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for July delivery rose $2.62 to $60.30 a barrel in New York trade.
In London, Brent crude for July gained $2.98 to $65.56.
The second bomb attack in a week on a Saudi Shiite mosque in the country s oil-rich Eastern Province help spark the price gains.
The attack, which killed three, took place in Dammam, just a few kilometers from both the headquarters of Aramco, the powerful Saudi state oil company, and the crucial Ras Tanura oil terminal and refinery.
US prices were supported by a fall in the Baker Hughes US rig count, suggesting the industry is still cutting back activity.
The US count fell by 13 to 646 active oil drilling rigs. A year ago, the total was 1,536.
That combined with a fall Wednesday in US stockpiles to suggest tighter supplies in the future.
"There was some expectation and some anxiety that the rig count could come out as a positive number today," said Bob Yawger of Mizuho Securities.
"Instead it was down 13. We haven t seen a number that big in a couple of weeks," he said.
