Brent crude hits $116 as UAE reports oil spill and Trump threatens to seize Iran's oil

Brent Crude futures, the benchmark oil index, climbed to $116.20 per barrel on Friday, October 23, its highest level in five months, in May 4. At the same time, US West Texas Intermediate futures traded about 3% higher at $102.56 a barrel. This comes after Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia, and investors are spooked by concerns over the US resuming strikes on Iran and further disruption to energy supplies.

US President Donald Trump, before leaving for a rally in Florida, said that we could take all of Iran's oil if we wanted to. "Iran is not able to do much now. And we could, if we wanted to, just take all of the oil," Mr Trump said. "We could take the whole country."

"And as you know, the Hormuz Strait is ours, and that's the way we'll keep it," the president added.

Meanwhile, Iran's army chief said the country’s military is fully prepared for “asymmetric warfare” while it is actively engaged in the production, distribution, and maintenance of such weapons, while providing personnel with the necessary training to operate them.

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UAE reports oil spill in its coast

Earlier on Friday, the UAE reported an oil spill from a tanker off the coast of Umm Al Quwain; it did not specify the reason for the spill. The report comes a day after Iran claimed to have struck four commercial vessels in Persian Gulf waters and said three others had hit sea mines in the region.

The UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment said in a statement, "teams immediately began containment, cordoning, clean-up and remediation ... to limit environmental impacts," adding that Umm Al Quwain beaches had been closed.

"The slick is considerably larger, covering approximately 160 square km (60 square miles), and looks to be coming from the ship," Leon Moreland, a researcher at ⁠the Conflict and Environment Observatory, said.

The authorities have not disclosed the identity of the tanker, while Martin Kelly, CEO of Orbital Risk Intelligence, told Reuters the oil slick was coming from a vessel called the Gem No 2.