Oil jumps 1 percent in Asia on Saudi tensions

Oil prices on both sides of Atlantic jumped as tensions between the US and Saudi Arabia rose on the disappearance of a prominent Saudi journalist.

At press time, WTI is changing hands at $72.10 - up 0.77 cents or 1.08 percent on the day. Meanwhile, Brent is trading at $81.43 - up 98 cents or 1.24 percent.

The US President Donald Trump threatened Saudi Arabia with severe punishment if Jamal Khashoggi - a prominent critic of Riyadh and a US resident, who disappeared on Oct. 2 - is found killed.

In response, Riyadh said that it would hit back against any action against the Kingdom. Markets fear that one way Saudi would respond is by driving up oil prices via sharp production cuts.

As a result, oil benchmarks are on the rise on the first trading day of the week. Further, reports stating that South Korea has stopped importing oil from Iran for the first time in years is likely adding to the bullish pressure around oil.