Tokyo: Oil prices surged on Thursday after a unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy said it was aware of an incident involving a tanker in the Gulf of Oman near the Iranian coast. Reports of a tanker on fire in the Gulf of Oman followed the earlier sabotage attacks on vessels near the Fujairah emirate, one of the world's largest bunkering hubs and located just outside the nearby Strait of Hormuz. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which is part of the UK Royal Navy, said on Thursday that it was aware of an incident in the Gulf of Oman, near the Iranian coast. Tensions in the Middle East have escalated since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 multinational nuclear pact with Iran and reimposed sanctions, notably targeting Tehran's key oil exports. Iran says it will not be cowed by what it has called psychological warfare.

Source: Mint June 13, 2019 07:30 UTC