Oil prices rise as Middle East tensions simmer

TOKYO, June 24 (Reuters) - Oil prices climbed on Monday as
tensions remain high between Iran and the United States, with
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying "significant"
sanctions on Tehran would be announced.
Brent futures LCOc1 were up 37 cents, or 0.6%, at $65.57 a
barrel by 0044 GMT.
West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was up 43 cents, or
0.8%, at $57.86 a barrel.
U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that he called
off a military strike to retaliate for Iran's downing of an
unmanned U.S. drone, and he said on Sunday that he was not
seeking war with Iran.
But Pompeo also said "significant" sanctions on Iran would
be announced on Monday aimed at further choking off resources
that Tehran uses to fund its activities in the region.

"The Middle East clashes should support oil prices at the
start of the week as crude markets will wait to see Iran's
response to the threat of additional sanctions," said Edward
Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York.
Oil prices surged last week after Iran shot down a drone
that the United States claimed was in international airspace and
Tehran said was over its territory.
Amid the escalating tensions Brent racked up a gain of about
5% last week, its first weekly gain in five weeks, and WTI
jumped about 10%, its biggest weekly percentage gain since
December 2016.
Trump said he had aborted a military strike on Iran because
such a response to Tehran's downing of the unmanned U.S.
surveillance drone would have caused a disproportionate loss of
life.
Iranian officials told Reuters that Tehran had received a
message from Trump through Oman overnight warning that a U.S.
attack on Iran was imminent.
"We're prepared to negotiate with no preconditions," Pompeo
told reporters on Sunday. "They know precisely how to find us. I
am confident that at the very moment they're ready to truly
engage with us we'll be able to begin these conversations. I'm
looking forward to that day."