Mix signals on US involvement in the Iran-Israel conflict means a mixed performance for oil.

Live from the UK, this is the Marketplace Morning Report from the BBC World Service.

I'm Stuart Clarkson in Fort Leanna Byrne. Good morning.

Still unclear what action President Trump will take in the conflict between Israel and Iran,

the BBC's US partner, CBS,

has approved an attack plan, but not taken a decision yet on whether to use it.

Middle East is home to some of the world's biggest oil producers, so it means uncertainty for prices.

Let's talk to Jane Sidnam, investment director at Rathbone's Investment Management.

Hello.

Good morning.

So a couple of options for the US,

getting more involved in this, trying to broker some peace talks, and those two options could impact oil prices in a different way, I guess. Yes, most definitely. I mean, the oil price

has gone up anticipating the possibility of the close of the Strait of Hummers, which is a very

narrow shipping lane through the Middle East that carries about 20% of the close of the Strait of Hormuz, which is a very narrow shipping lane through the Middle East

that carries about 20% of the world's oil. Important to say that hasn't actually changed since

1972, despite other conflicts that have taken place in the Middle East. But of course,

the worry of it is what's pushed up the oil price in the short term.

And the oil price has been, if anything, a little bit weaker before the threat of this conflict

because OPEC have added around a million barrels a day of production to world markets,

and the US oil strategic reserves are at a pretty high level.

So there are counterbalancing factors

that had been keeping the oil price low. So I think it's really the worry about this rather

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