Crude oil prices hit 10-month highs on Iraq crisis
The聽price聽of聽oil聽continued to climb Friday, nearing $107 a barrel as Iraq's widening insurgency fueled concerns that crude supplies from OPEC's No. 2 producer could be hurt.
After jumping over $2 on Thursday, the benchmark U.S.聽oil聽contract for July delivery was up another 44 cents to $106.97 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had earlier hit a high of $107.68.
Brent crude, a benchmark for international聽oils, was up 54 cents to $112.96 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
Oil聽prices聽have risen to 10-month highs after an al-Qaida-inspired group vowed to march on Baghdad after capturing two key Iraqi cities this week, including Mosul, which is in an area that is a key gateway for the country's crude.
The violence in Iraq is mostly centered in the country's north, away from the major oil-producing regions of the south. The turmoil hasn't yet had a big effect on聽oil聽exports, though it raises concerns about whether Iraq can continue rebuilding its聽oil聽infrastructure and boost output to meet global demand.
"Without the聽oil聽production from the south of Iraq, the market would be stripped of an estimated 2.5 million barrels per day," said a report from analysts at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. "The sharp聽price聽rise in the last two days shows that this聽oil聽supply is no longer viewed as secure, either."
Iraq's聽oil聽production has risen by about a fifth since 2011 to 3.3 million barrels per day, making it the second biggest producer in OPEC behind Saudi Arabia.
In other energy futures trading on Nymex:
鈥� Wholesale gasoline advanced 0.27 cent to $3.0864 a gallon.
鈥� Natural gas added 0.8 cent to $4.77 per 1,000 cubic feet.
鈥� Heating聽oil聽was up 1.46 cents to $3.0039 a gallon.
