This archive report was first published on 3 January 2020.
Oil prices soared on January 3, 2020, after the US killed a top Iranian general, sparking fresh fears of a conflict in the crude-rich region.
The head of Iran's Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, was killed in an attack on Baghdad's international airport, according to Hased, a powerful Iraqi paramilitary force linked to Tehran.
US President Donald Trump later tweeted a picture of the American flag, and the Pentagon confirmed that he had ordered Soleimani's killing.
Oil prices surged 4.4 percent to $69.16 and WTI jumped 4.3 percent to $63.84 as investors grew increasingly worried about the effects of a possible flare-up in the Middle East on supplies of the commodity.
Stephen Innes, a senior market analyst at AxiTrader, warned that the killing of Soleimani was 'more than just bloodying Iran's nose' and could trigger another Middle East war.
Oil prices had seen a record surge in September after attacks on two Saudi Arabian facilities briefly slashed output in the world's top exporter by half, with Trump blaming Iran for the attack.
Investors rushed for safe-haven units, with the yen up 0.7 percent against the dollar and gold climbing more than one percent.
