this is the business briefing. i'm victoria fritz. crude prices continue to rise, on fears for global oil supplies, as tensions escalate in the strait of hormuz. plus: virtual reality check. sales of vr headsets decline. are they still the future, or a bit of a blind alley? and on the markets, oil prices continue their rise. asian stocks are subdued, though, ahead of key chinese economic data out in a couple of hours' time.

we start with the price of oil. it has continued to rise after spiking more than 4% on thursday, after explosions damaged two tankers off the coast of iran, as they left the strait of hormuz. us secretary of state mike pompeo has called them the latest in a series of attacks by iran, which has denied all involvement. washington has also blamed tehran for attacks on four tankers last month in the same area, all of which it denies. the strait of hormuz links middle eastern oil producers to markets in europe, asia and north america. at its narrowest point, the gap separating iran and oman isjust 21 miles. there are only two shipping lanes, each just two miles wide. more than 17 million barrels per day pass through the strait, according to the latest figures. that is almost 40% of all global oil shipments by tanker, and nearly a fifth of

the world's oil supply. it has also been the main export route for iranian oil, worth $66 billion in 2017. that was until president trump tightened sanctions on iran, and cracked down on countries buying its oil. iran's president rouhani has hinted that oil shipments through the strait of hormuz could be disrupted if the united states tries to strangle iran's economy. michelle fleury in new york has more it was inevitable that oil prices reacted the way they did. any disruption to the flow of oil is going to raise concerns about supply, and in turn have a knock—on effect on the price of oil, pushing it

higher, as we saw. now, when you consider that a quarter of the world's oil is shipped through the straight of hormuz, any disruption to tankers in that area is going to alert traders. but as big as the spike was, if you look at west texas intermediate, the price is still substantially below its high from earlier this year, trading below $60 a barrel. there is a degree of waiting to find out more definitively who may have been behind these attacks. mike pompeo, the us secretary of state, blamed iran for the attacks on a japanese and norwegian tanker, even as the japanese prime minister visited tehran. what's clear is that the stand—off between the us and iran has been simmering for a while, and this attack is the most recent in a pattern of disruption. earlier this month, there was an attack on tankers and a drone attack on a saudi pipeline.

now, given how easy it is to interrupt the flow of oil, some analysts are predicting an increase in the price of oil of as much as $7. but motorists at the pump may not notice a difference. if you run a company, though, you may see your insurance rates go up, for example, and in turn, you may charge your customers more choose to pass that on. the knock—on effect is hard to quantify, but you can see how an increase in the price of oil could trickle down to the rest of the economy. nitesh shah is director of research at investment management company wisdomtree. how worried are the investors that you are dealing with when it comes to what appears to be a rising level of conflict, and aggravation in the region? well, over the past month i think investors have been ignoring the risks. oil prices have been falling, they had reached $75 a

barrel just over falling, they had reached $75 a barreljust over 1.5 months ago and they are close to $60 a barrel in terms of brent crude. they have been ignoring these risks but they were reminded of these risks when the tankers in the region were attacked. none of them were oil tankers, they we re none of them were oil tankers, they were carrying other products. but it is just were carrying other products. but it isjust a reminder that were carrying other products. but it is just a reminder that that region is just a reminder that that region isa is just a reminder that that region is a very important place for oil to exit from the iranians peninsular and into the world markets. exit from the iranians peninsular and into the world marketsm exit from the iranians peninsular and into the world markets. it is interesting, because it is almost sentiment marking, what is going on with the oil price —— iranian peninsula. in terms of the disruption of the oil market, this hasn't made any difference, has it, yet? not yet, but it is once again another reminder that it could happen. last month there were attacks on four vessels which basically caused some disruption. that subsided, but this is a new reminder. what we may find is in the future that the demand for oil,

which is put under question by investors, may not really fall apart. because towards the end of this month, the us and china are hopefully meeting up in osaka, in japan, and they may come towards some sort of a trade deal. if demand doesn't falter but there is question marks into how easily supplier can reach the markets, oil prices could go substantially higher. it's interesting, because it's very easy to believe that the world's oil is going around on tankers, and it is all liquid oil, but actually, that is kind of discounting the huge boom in shale, in the production of oil and gas that is coming from the us and gas that is coming from the us and from canada. i am wondering how that plays into all of that. yes, so the oil supply from the us is growing, the us is already the world's largest crude supplier and

asa world's largest crude supplier and as a result of countries like saudi arabia and russia cooperating with opec arabia and russia cooperating with 0pec having cut down on supply, the us is gaining a lot more market share. unfortunately for right now the us has probably had its capacity in terms of how much it can exploit. it needs to build a lot more infrastructure to be able to export at higher volumes, but at this point in time it is investing in infrastructure. so within a year's time or so they can increase exports more than that 3 billion barrels a day it is exporting —— 3 million barrels. thank you for explaining the oil market for us. let's talk tech now, because for years, virtual reality headsets have been touted as the future of gaming, education, and even communication, but sales of the hardware have fallen sharply this year. so can new games and devices reinvigorate the industry? chris fox reports from the e3 gaming show in los angeles. this is a crucial time for virtual

reality. the next generation of hardware has just been released, reality. the next generation of hardware hasjust been released, and will prove if the tech has sticking power 01’ will prove if the tech has sticking power or isjust a will prove if the tech has sticking power or is just a novelty. this will prove if the tech has sticking power or isjust a novelty. this is the 0culus quest, facebook‘s latest attempt to make a headset which is more portable. the new headset works everywhere with no equipment to set up, eliminating one of the main obstacles with high—quality vr. but it is the games that will draw people in, and at e3, one of the biggest hits announced new content. it lets players smash blocks in time with the music and it is so easy to play it has become a vr staple. we have people getting the headset only because of this. the first game they wa nt to because of this. the first game they want to play and try is beat sabre. this is phantom covert ops, which

lets players move around without giving them motion sickness. often you have to teleport your character to move around or push a stick to move them around, and that takes you out of the experience a little bit. the really unique and powerful thing about putting you in control of a kaya k about putting you in control of a kayak is that you are driving the motion with your arms, and that is exactly what the character in the game is doing as well. so what is the future for virtual reality? there is a tendency to try and become a cross media entertainment proposition in terms of vr, so they have 360 degrees video, but it doesn't really fulfil the promise of vr. so i think focusing on interactive content is the way to go. while players at e3 were happy to cue to try the latest games, there was little made of its educational or social applications. the view from e3 seems to be that vr has found its groove with gaming. now let's brief you on some other business stories: a uk ban has come into force on adverts featuring harmful gender stereotypes or those which are likely to cause serious

or widespread offence. the ban covers scenarios such as a man with his feet up while a woman cleans, or a girl aspiring to be a ballet dancer while a boy becomes an engineer. the uk's advertising watchdog introduced the ban because it found some portrayals could play a part in limiting people's potential. and now, what is trending in the business news this morning? 0n the wall street journal, trump could retaliate if xi balks at trade meeting, kudlow says. the top white house economic adviser warns there could be more tariffs if china's leader doesn't agree to a face—to—face meeting at the upcoming g20 summit. quartz explains why hong kong's protesters were afraid to use their metro cards. it reports people queuing to buy subway tickets with cash so they couldn't be traced using their smart cards, and the data used to prove they were at the protests —

one of the dangers of the growing cashless society. and business insider says spending on pets has increased by over $22 billion in the past ten years. that is an increase of more than 50%. the reason could be millennials leaving having children until later, and pampering their pets instead. and don't forget, let us know what you are spotting online. use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. but before we go, here are the markets. a strange session going on in asia, struggling for a bit of direction, but the oil price continuing to rise on fears of global supply and what

looks to be an escalating conflict and aggravation in the region when it comes to iran and the us. plenty more coming up a little bit later on. i will see you soon. legislation around the growing number of tattoo shops needs to be tightened to avoid risk of infections. the royal society for public health says one in five people who have a tattoo or piercing end up reporting negative side effects. currently, there is no standard legal requirement that shops have to meet on infection control. dominic hughes reports. for most people, getting a tattoo or

piercing is a straightforward procedure. but there are health risks whenever the barrier that is formed by our skin is broken, and health experts say not enough is being done to prevent infection. the holders i for body modification is something that has grown in the last couple of decades, as people become more interested in their body image. and that's great, but the legislation just hasn't caught up. and we would like to see a level playing field, basically. i think it would be useful for anyone playing field, basically. i think it would be usefulfor anyone in playing field, basically. i think it would be useful for anyone in the playing field, basically. i think it would be usefulfor anyone in the uk to know that wherever they are going, they can be assured that the person who is giving them a special procedure such as a tattoo is suitably qualified in infection control, and so that it really does minimise the risk of side effect. the number of shops offering tattoos and piercings has rocketed in recent yea rs, and piercings has rocketed in recent years, up by more than 170% injust a decade. 0ne years, up by more than 170% injust a decade. one in five of us now has a decade. one in five of us now has a tattoo, but in a survey of more than 800 people who were tattooed, pierced, or underwent acupuncture or

electrolysis in the last couple of yea rs, electrolysis in the last couple of years, 18% experience negative side effects. wales is the only part of the uk where a compulsory licensing scheme for tattoo parlours and others offering similar services is being introduced. today's report says that not enough is being done in the rest of the country to protect the public from potentially serious infection. for that story and more, breakfast is coming up at 6:00am, with charlie stayt and naga munchetty. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the us military has released a video showing forces removing an unexploded mind from one of the ships attacked on thursday. after a controversial and difficult two years — one of donald trump's closest allies sarah sanders confirms she's quitting the white house in a few weeks. ready for action — a nationwide women's strike over

equal pay takes place in switzerland. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the arab news. an image of the tanker front altair on fire in the gulf of oman dominates their front page. the paper reports on comments made by the us secretary of state mike pompeo blaming iran for the suspected assault on two oil tankers. the financial times leads on the same story but focuses on the impact of the attack on the markets, they illustrate the point with a graph showing how the incident has pushed the price of brent oil up by as much as 4.5% the daily telegraph, along with many of the uk papers, lead on the same story, borisjohnson and his bid to be the next british pm.