WTI up 4.29% at $51.42; Brent up 4.3% at $58.89.
As noted in March 4's "Dollar and Oil Charts":
WTI $50.59 up 7 cents. ca. $54 has stopped three rally attempts....And as can be seen, that early March attempt didn't even get as high as the three in February.
From Reuters:
Brent crude oil soared more than 4 percent towards $59 a barrel on Thursday after Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies began a military operation in Yemen, which sits on a key shipping passage between Europe and the Arab Gulf.
The air strikes against Houthi rebels, who have driven the president from Yemen's capital Sanaa, could stoke concerns about the security of Middle East oil shipments.
Brent futures LCOc1 were up $2.32 at $58.80 by 1120 GMT (0720 EDT). U.S. crude CLc1 was up $2.10 at $51.31 a barrel.
Brent and U.S. crude prices spiked around 6 percent earlier in the session but pared gains in European trading.
"Geopolitical risk like this has been on the back burner for a while because we've been focusing on global oversupply," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
"This news has not made the oversupply go away. The upside potential is limited unless something escalates. We need to see how this unfolds over the next couple of days," he said.
Iranian officials demanded an immediate halt to Saudi-led military operations in Yemen and said Tehran would make all necessary efforts to control the crisis there, Iranian news agencies reported.....MORE
