Benchmark US oil contract West Texas Intermediate (WTI) briefly rose more than 5 per cent to over $100 a barrel on fears for global supplies during the Middle East war, Al Jazeera reports.

At 1605 GMT (9:05pm PKT), the WTI price for delivery in April rose 2.29pc to $98.53 per barrel, while international oil benchmark Brent North Sea crude gained 2.01pc to $109.54 per barrel.