NEW YORK — Oil prices rose more than $1 a barrel Wednesday. New attacks on tankers near the Strait of Hormuz and on Saudi energy facilities raised fears of further supply disruptions, and falling U.S. inventories added to the pressure.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose $1.59, or 1.5%, to $110.38 a barrel by early Wednesday in Asia, and later traded around $110.70. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.36, or 1.4%, to $99.18. Later in the session it moved close to $100 a barrel, a level it has not reached for weeks.

The gains reversed Tuesday's decline. Brent had settled at $108.79 after Iran's president discussed possible mediation with Pakistan's army chief in Tehran, which briefly raised hopes for an end to the conflict.

Mines, missiles and supertankers

The latest rise followed a statement Tuesday from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Guard said its naval mines had stopped three tankers trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz on routes Tehran considers unauthorized. It said two tankers caught fire, and a third tanker, carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude, exploded after hitting a mine.

Iran's state broadcaster IRIB separately reported that a supertanker had struck a sea mine in the strait. It did not name the vessel or say when the incident happened.

U.S. Central Command rejected Iran's account. A spokesman said Iran's claims that tankers had hit mines were false and that U.S.........

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