Oil prices rise as US threatens new sanctions on Iran(Source Yahoo Finance)

Oil prices continued to rise on Monday morning as the United States prepares to announce new sanctions on Iran. Crude and brent prices have spiked in recent weeks after a US drone was shot down by Iran. The Iranian regime has also been accused of blowing up oil tankers.

Brent futures were up around 0.8% at $65.69 a barrel at 9.30am on Monday, while crude was up 0.7% to $57.84 a barrel.  US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said “significant” new sanctions would be announced on Tehran on Monday.

Trump said he called off a military strike against Iran on Friday after a US drone was shot down, saying he was “not looking for war.” “There’s a very firm tone to trading on well above average volumes,” according to Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney. “We’ve got concerns about the sanctions against Iran, [but] we are seeing a better demand picture because of the actions of central banks, which is benefiting all commodities … and we have got a weaker US dollar,” McCarthy said.