RoydadNaft –  Brent crude futures rose by $1.75, or 1.86%, to $96.04 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose by $2.08, or 2.35%, to $90.76.

According to Roydad Naft, oil prices gained on Thursday after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced they had targeted a U.S. airbase. The move came in response to a U.S. attack on the port city of Bandar Abbas.

Brent crude futures rose $1.75, or 1.86%, to $96.04 per barrel (as of 13:14 GMT), while the more active August contract gained $1.81, or around 2%, to $94.06. The July contract is set to expire on Friday.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures also rose by $2.08, or 2.35%, to $90.76.

Both benchmarks had dropped more than 5% in the previous session to their lowest level in a month on expectations of a possible U.S.-Iran deal to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

However, hours after President Donald Trump rejected reports that he was close to a compromise deal with Tehran, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted a U.S. airbase following U.S. military strikes on an Iranian drone operation near the Strait of Hormuz.

John Evans, analyst at PVM Oil Associates, said: “It appears that the trading of airstrikes is part of the negotiating language.”

He added: “While any faith remains that a deal will be struck, prices will drift until the depletion in global oil inventories starts to finally bite and once again reminds us of how over a billion barrels of oil is stuck behind the pinch of Hormuz.”

According to shipping data from LSEG and Kpler, two supertankers and one liquefied natural gas tanker exited the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week with their transponders switched off and are heading for India and China.

In the United States, crude oil stockpiles fell by 2.8 million barrels last week, marking the sixth consecutive week of declines, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute (API).

Official inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is due to be released on Thursday — one day later than usual due to the Memorial Day holiday.