Crude oil prices were seen trading higher on Friday as supplies from Iraq are threatened by the escalated tension in Iraq, the world’s second biggest oil producer.
Futures for the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for July delivery gained 0.45% to $107.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at the time of writing.
While the European benchmark Brent crude for July settlement rose 0.22% higher to $113.27 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange based in London.
The North American WTI crude climbed to a nine-month high of 2.32% on Thursday, while futures for Brent advanced more than 3% as the market expects oil futures to extend gains if the situation in Iraq escalates.
In Iraq, Islamist militants gained control of the northern territory of the nation’s capital, Baghdad and continue to move towards the oil fields. The turmoil in Mosul also disrupted the repair work on the main pipeline from the Kirkuk oil field to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in Turkey.
Free Reports:
The situation in Iraq remains in the spotlight as the tensions worsened and the US President Barack Obama said the government is looking at every option, which includes sending military aid for Iraq. However, US President Barack Obama said he refuses to send ground troops as the US soldiers left the country in 2011.
The crisis hasn’t reached the southern region of the country, which the US Energy Information Administration forecasts is the main point for Iraq’s crude output. Iraq shipped 5.43 million barrels from the Basrah terminal on June 11, according to oil minister, Al-Luaibi.
After several talks between Russia and Ukraine over gas prices, no agreement was finalized and the Russian energy company Gazprom has said it will stop gas shipments to Ukraine if the country does not pay its $1.95 billion gas debt by Monday.
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