Oil prices surge 6% amid fresh escalation in West Asia

Crude prices surged over 6% with Brent at $89.44 per barrel after fresh US-Saudi attacks on Iraq and Iranian strikes on US assets in Jordan, reviving West Asia conflict fears. The US Senate advanced a bill to impose up to 100% tariffs on top buyers of Russian energy including India, which relies on Russian oil for over 50% of its crude imports. India's April-June crude import bill already rose 61% year-on-year to $49.8 billion, and a sustained $1/barrel annual increase could add about 18,000 crore to the import bill, worsening inflation that already touched 4.3% in June.