Oil extends gains, Brent above $81

Oil drilling rigs

International benchmark Brent crude was trading up 0.79% at $81.48 a barrel at 08:42 am Makkah time. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 0.89% to $78.60 a barrel.

On July 31, Ismail Haniyeh, Head of Political Bureau of Hamas, was killed reportedly in an Israeli missile attack while he was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new president, Masoud Pezeshkian.

Media reports indicated that Iran ordered a retaliatory attack on Israel, which could cause the military tensions in the Middle East to widen and lead other parties to intervene in the conflict.

Meanwhile, data released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) on July 31 showed that US crude oil inventories fell by about 3.4 million barrels last week, compared to the expectations of a decline by 1.6 million barrels.

Separate data from the EIA showed that US oil demand, measured by crude and derivatives supplied to the market, rose to 20.8 million barrels per day in May, up 792,000 barrels per day from April and the highest level since August.