HOUSTON: Brent crude was up on Thursday but well off session highs of US$119 a barrel while US crude futures finished with a small loss hours after hitting a session high over $100 a barrel. Earlier in the session, Brent had climbed more than US$11 to a high of US$119.13, close to the 3-1/2-year peak touched on March 9. US West Texas Intermediate crude finished at US$96.14 a barrel, down 18 cents or 0.19%. Israel attacked Iran's South Pars gas field, but Trump said late Wednesday that the US and Qatar were not involved. Trump said Israel would not attack Iranian facilities in South Pars again unless Iran attacked Qatar, and warned that the US would also respond if Iran acted against Doha.

Source: The Star March 20, 2026 00:03 UTC