TheCable

Oil price went to a one-month high on Friday after the United States attacked a Syrian government airbase, killing six people, rattling the oil-rich region.

On Thursday night (Nigerian time), US warships launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Shayrat Airfield, in response to a chemical attack on civilians in the town of Khan Sheikhoun earlier in the week.

After the toughest action the US has taken on Syria in six years, oil, gold, foreign exchange, German and US 10-year bonds, made strong statements for financial markets across the globe.

According to Reuters figures, Brent crude futures were up 88 cents at $55.77 a barrel at 9:27am Nigerian time, the highest since March 8, after after reaching an intra-day high of $56.08 a barrel shortly after the overnight air strikes were announced.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 85 cents at $52.55 a barrel, having reached a intra-day high of $52.94 a barrel.

The airstrike does not necessarily cut oil supplies from Syria, but may damp investors appetite in the short term.

The airstrike was strongly supported by Saudi Arabia, the leading oil producer in the world, and the core leader of Sunni Muslims in the world.

Vladimir Putin of Russia regarded the airstrike as an act of agreession, which is considered to have strained US-Russia relations.

“Putin views the US strikes on Syria as aggression against a sovereign state in violation of the norms of international law and on a made-up up pretext. Washington’s step will inflict major damage on US-Russia ties,” Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman said.

Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande, leaders of Germany and France, released a joint statement in support of the attack against Assad’s regime.

“Assad bears full responsibility for this development. His continued use of chemical weapons and mass crimes cannot go unpunished. This is what France had asked in the summer of 2013, the day after the chemical attack in Ghouta,” their statement reads.