By Laila Kearney and Emily Chow
SINGAPORE, July 29 (Reuters) – Oil prices rose more than $3 a barrel on Wednesday after joint strikes in Iraq by the United States and Saudi Arabia, and the interception of Iran’s ballistic missiles aimed at U.S. forces in the Middle East, while U.S. crude inventories shrank.
Brent futures increased by $3.30, or 3.9%, to $87.39 a barrel by 0300 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $3.05, or 3.8%, to $82.31 a barrel.
“Renewed strength comes after the U.S. said it intercepted a surprise attack on U.S. troops,” ING analysts said in a note.
“Saudi Arabia intercepted drones from Iranian-backed groups in Iraq, which were targeting Saudi energy infrastructure,” they said, adding that U.S. and Saudi forces launched strikes on weapon sites across eastern Iraq.
The latest developments dampen expectations for a swift de-escalation in the Persian Gulf, they said.
The U.S. military said it intercepted ballistic missiles launched by Iran towards U.S. forces in the Middle East in what Washington called “an attempted surprise attack” by Tehran.
Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards later said they fired several ballistic missiles at a U.S. air base and military Central Command center in Jordan.
Saudi Arabia also said its armed forces, in coordination with U.S. Central Command, carried out “targeted strikes” against Iran-backed groups in Iraq it blamed for drone attacks on the kingdom’s oil facilities.
U.S. crude inventories fell by about 3.3 million barrels in the week ended July 24, market sources said on Tuesday, citing data from the American Petroleum Institute.
Official inventory data from the Energy Information Administration is due later on Wednesday.
Further supporting prices, OPEC+ is likely to halt oil output increases for three months starting in October, sources told Reuters, after the producer group completes the scheduled return of barrels following voluntary cuts.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York and Emily Chow in Singapore; Additional reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston;Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Clarence Fernandez)
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