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.