Middle East risk continues to rise, crude oil call options trading unusually active.

As the confrontation escalates between Israel and Iran, a new round of bullish sentiment is sweeping through the oil options market, with unusually active trading in bullish options opening this week. Over the past weekend, the two sides continued to clash, with attacks on energy infrastructure as well. In this context, within a few hours of trading starting on Monday, thousands of contracts for August bullish options with strike prices above $80 per barrel changed hands. In addition, there were about 2000 contracts for August Brent bullish options with strike prices of $100 and $101 per barrel trading. The options market is not usually this active during the Asian trading session. It is not yet clear if these options trades are part of a larger-scale strategy.