TOKYO, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Oil rose sharply, with U.S. crude
rising nearly $3, on Wednesday after the U.S. said its forces in
Iraq were attacked by Iranian ballistic missiles, raising the
prospect of a regional conflagration that could cut oil
supplies.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 rose nearly $3,
or almost 5%, to $65.50 a barrel at around 0029 GMT. Brent crude
was yet to trade after dropping nearly 1% on Tuesday.
Iran has launched an attack on U.S.-led forces in Iraq, the
U.S. military said on Tuesday, adding Tehran fired more than a
dozen ballistic missiles from Iranian territory against at least
two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S.-led coalition personnel.
"We are working on initial battle damage assessments,"
Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in statement, adding
that the bases targeted were at Al-Asad air base and another in
Erbil, Iraq.
Iranian news agency Mehr said Iran's Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps had targeted the base. Tehran has vowed retaliation
for the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani
by a U.S. air strike on Jan. 3.
Sirens were heard and American helicopters were seen flying
over Iraq's Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province early on
Wednesday, according to al Mayadeen TV.