Oil climbs on Iran tensions, U.S. inventory decline - Reuters

Oil climbs on Iran tensions, U.S. inventory decline - Reuters:

Oil prices edged higher on Thursday supported by rising tensions between the West and Iran and a big decline in U.S. crude stockpiles, but gains were capped due to lingering worries about slowing economic growth that could reduce fuel demand.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 settled 21 cents, or 0.33%, higher at $63.39 a barrel after hitting a session high of $64.23

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 ended the session up 14 cents, or 0.25%, at $56.02 a barrel, after hitting a session high of $56.99 earlier.

A week after Iran seized a British-flagged tanker in the Gulf, Britain has started sending a warship to accompany all British-flagged vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, a change in policy announced on Thursday after the government previously said it did not have resources to do so.