Global oil prices jump 4% after US airstrike kills top Iranian general

Global oil
prices jumped over 4% on Friday after a US airstrike ordered by President
Donald Trump killed a top Iranian general in Iraq.

The sharp
jump followed the attack over fears of conflict between two of the world’s
largest oil producing nations.

Global benchmark,
Brent, was trading 3.20% higher at $68.37 a barrel during the early hours on
Friday. The Brent had surged as much as 4.4% earlier while the WTI also gained
over 4% to 63.84.

Domestic oil
prices are already on the rise in India. Besides, Indian imports over 80% of
its oil requirement.

Iraq is the
largest crude supplier to India. The Basra crude is regarded as one of the best
in terms of quality and ideally suited for Indian refineries.

According to
data sourced from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and
Statistics, Iraq sold 46.61 million tonnes of crude oil to India during April
2018 and March 2019.

This was 2
per cent more than 45.74 million tonnes it had supplied in 2017-18 fiscal,
making it the top supplier for the second year in a row.

India
provisionally imported 207.3 million tonnes of crude oil in 2018-19, down from
220.4 million tonnes in the previous financial year.