Oil prices crossed the $100 mark on Thursday, but on Friday they were still fluctuating around $100 despite a 1% drop.

Over the past two weeks, oil prices have risen by almost 40% as fighting in the Middle East intensified.

Oil prices jumped to the $100 level while, according to Kpler data, on Thursday only one tanker carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil to China passed through the Strait of Hormuz, and no tankers also entered the Persian Gulf via this waterway.

Houthi attacks on oil-carrying ships of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait have also added to energy markets’ concerns.