MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/. The price of futures contracts of Brent crude oil for December delivery has risen above $76 per barrel on London's ICE for the first time since September 3, 2024, according to trading data.

As of 1:49 p.m. Moscow time (10:49 a.m. GMT), the Brent price was up by 3.32% at $75 per barrel. By 1:53 p.m. Moscow time (10:53 a.m. GMT) the price of Brent futures contracts had extended gains to 3.51% trading at $76.14 per barrel.

By 2:05 p.m. Moscow time (11:05 a.m. GMT), the price of Brent futures contracts had narrowed gains to 3.09% trading at $75.83 per barrel. Meanwhile the price of futures contracts of WTI crude oil for November delivery was up by 3.34% at $72.16 per barrel.

The price of oil is rising amid an escalation in the Middle East. On the evening of October 1, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, the elite unit of Iran's armed forces) launched a massive ballistic and hypersonic missile attack against Israel in retaliation for the deaths of top leaders of the Hamas, Hezbollah and IRGC groups. Tehran said that 90% of the missiles successfully hit their designated targets. Israel, in turn, said that Iran had fired some 180 missiles into the country, most of which were intercepted.

The Israeli Chief of the General Staff vowed to "choose the right time" to surprise Iran with an attack, while Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Jewish warned that attacks on Israel will be ramped up.