Oil Rises after Iran Seizure of U.S. Vessel
- Iran seizes U.S. cargo vessel, directs it to local port
- Oil down earlier on bets of another record high in U.S. stocks (Recasts with market turning positive after earlier declines; changes byline and dateline, previous LONDON)
Oil prices turned positive on Tuesday after reports that Iran had seized an U.S. cargo vessel raised geopolitical tensions and concerns about the security of Middle East crude shipments, traders said.
Futures of U.K. North Sea Brent, the more widely-used global benchmark, were up 55 cents at $65.38 a barrel by 10:20 a.m. EDT (1420 GMT).
U.S. crude futures were up 75 cents at $57.74 a barrel.
Iranian forces seized a U.S. cargo ship, directing it to an Iranian port, Saudi Arabia's Arabiya TV reported.
Oil prices were down earlier on expectations that industry data due later in the day for the American Petroleum Institute would show another build in U.S. crude stockpiles to record highs last week.
By Barani Krishnan, Additional reporting by Himanshu Ojha in London and Florence Tan and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen in Singapore
