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Investors fled to safe-haven assets Friday after a series of Israeli airstrikes on Iran marked a major escalation of conflict in the region.The scale of the attack, which Israel said was targeting Iran’s nuclear program, took markets by surprise, pushing up prices of assets thought to offer protection in times of heightened volatility.”The news has led to significant fears about an escalation and a wider regional conflict,” Deutsche Bank strategists said in a note early Friday. “The effects of the attack have cascaded across global markets, with a strong risk-off move for several asset classes.”Gold hit an almost two-month high…

Crude oil analysts are in a rush to revise their forecasts in the wake of Israel’s attacks on Iran as geopolitics trumps fundamentals yet again.“Oil could spike toward $80 if Middle East tensions escalate and supply risks materialize, but rising OPEC+ output may cap gains and revive oversupply concerns into autumn,” Saxo Markets chief investment strategist Charu Chanana said, as quoted by Bloomberg.“A worst-case scenario — such as a closure of the Strait of Hormuz or a disruption to Iran’s 2.1 million barrels per day in exports — could have serious implications for global oil supply and inflation expectations,” Chanana…

Odfjell Technology AS and Oilfield Service Professionals LLC. (OSP) have joined forces to enhance operational performance efficiency and innovation across international oilfield markets. “This collaboration combines Odfjell Technology’s extensive experience in the energy industry with OSP’s agile workforce and domain expertise to deliver integrated, scalable solutions for complex well operations and project execution”, a joint statement said. “By combining our operational expertise with OSP’s specialized workforce and digital capabilities, we are promoting innovation and performance, optimizing how we deploy resources and ultimately creating greater value for our clients”, Simen Lieungh, CEO of Odfjell Technology, said. The two companies aim to…

Israel launched airstrikes across Iran on Friday morning, targeting nuclear facilities and killing senior military commanders in a major escalation that could spark a broad war in the Middle East. Explosions were heard across Tehran, Natanz – home to a key atomic site – and other cities, according to local and social media. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel – which used 200 air force planes and said it hit around 100 targets – had “struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.”  The head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, and the military’s chief of staff, Mohammad Bagheri, were…

The Brazilian government is preparing to stage an oil exploration auction months before it hosts the Cop30 UN climate summit, despite opposition from environmental campaigners and Indigenous communities worried about the environmental and climate impacts of the plans.Brazil’s oil sector regulator, ANP, will auction the exploration rights to 172 oil and gas blocks spanning 56,000 square miles (146,000 sq km), an area more than twice the size of Scotland, most of it offshore.The “doomsday auction”, as campaigners have called it, includes 47 blocks in the Amazon basin, in a sensitive area near the mouth of the river that fossil fuel…

An escalation in Israel-Iran tensions could trigger a wider regional conflict, potentially sending crude oil prices above $80. A lasting spike in oil prices may revive inflationary pressures and fuel global economic uncertainty, supporting demand for safe-haven assets. Concerns about Middle East tensions, the US-China trade agreement, and Beijing’s silence on stimulus weighed on market sentiment. The Hang Seng Index extended its losses from Thursday, with tech and EV stocks facing heavy losses. Market focus will remain on the Middle East, trade headlines, and Beijing’s stimulus-related news. These factors may determine whether the Hang Seng Index drops below 23,500 or…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Oil myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Oil prices surged on Friday in the biggest move in more than three years as Israel’s air strikes against Iran threaten supplies across the region and sparked a rush to safe haven assets. In early afternoon in Asia Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose about 8 per cent to $74.88 and US marker West Texas Intermediate rose more than 8 per cent to $73.67, with traders concerned the conflict could hit energy supplies in one of the world’s most important oil and gas…

Short covering intensified the move. Hedge funds had built record short positions betting on continued weakness from Chinese demand concerns. Those positions are now deeply underwater, forcing panic buying that could extend gains into next week. Iran’s 3.3 Million Barrels at Risk – What Traders Need to Know Iran pumps approximately 3.3 million barrels per day, representing 3% of global supply. More critically, the regime exports 1.6 million barrels daily through the vulnerable Kharg Island terminal. That’s 90% of their crude exports flowing through a single chokepoint. Chinese refiners take nearly all of Iran’s exports. Beijing’s teapot refineries depend on…

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa’s leader visited the region where devastating floods have left at least 78 people dead in the southeast of the country as search and rescue operations continued Friday for a fourth day and authorities said they expected the death toll to rise.President Cyril Ramaphosa traveled to the town of Mthatha in Eastern Cape province, where the floods hit hardest when they began in early Tuesday.Ramaphosa attended a briefing by officials from the National Disaster Management Center and also visited a bridge where a school bus was washed away by flooding. Six students, the…

A sudden rise in crude prices driven by a renewed fear of a military confrontation between the US and Iran has caught out bearish traders, forcing many to rethink their near-term outlook for the oil market after a period of falling prices.The price of Brent crude surged 4.3 per cent on Wednesday to close at just under $70 a barrel, the biggest gain since October, as the Trump administration told dependants of American military personnel to leave the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran over the Islamic republic’s expanding nuclear programme.Oil was roughly flat on Thursday as fears of…