Oil prices climbed, driven by fresh anxiety over supplies from Saudi Arabia and as tanker traffic through the critical Strait of Hormuz remained largely frozen, reports Reuters.

Brent crude futures added 58 cents, or 0.60 per cent, to $96.50 a barrel as of 0338 GMT. West Texas Intermediate futures were up 49 cents, 0.50pc, at $98.36 a barrel.

For this week, both contracts have so far lost 11pc, the biggest weekly decline since June 2025.

Attacks on Saudi energy facilities have cut the kingdom’s oil production capacity by around 600,000 barrels per day and throughput on its East-West Pipeline by about 700,000 bpd, Saudi state news agency SPA reported, citing an official source at the Ministry of Energy.