Oil rises on intensifying US-Iran hostilities, threat of Red Sea closure

A worker checks equipment at the Rumaila oil field, as the country cuts nearly 1.5 million barrels per day of output amid halted exports following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, in Basra, Iraq, March 4, 2026. — Reuters/File Listen to article 1x 1.2x 1.5x comments Join our Whatsapp Channel Add Dawn as a trusted source Oil prices inched up on Friday after the US and Iran stepped up attacks across the Gulf, with their broken truce limiting oil flows out of the Strait of Hormuz and with Tehran asking the Houthis to stand ready to shut the Red Sea export route.