Oil Prices Rise
Sunday, June 15th, 2014 -- 6:44 AM
The price of oil jumped to above $106 a barrel Thursday as an insurgency in Iraq raised the risk of disruptions to supplies at a time when other major crude-producing countries are already pumping near capacity.The al-Qaida-inspired group that captured two key cities in Iraq earlier this week vowed Thursday to march on to Baghdad.
One of those two cities, Mosul, lies in an area that is a major gateway for Iraqi oil. While the loss of the city has no immediate effect on oil exports, now at over 3 million barrels a day, it adds to concerns over security and the country's plans to expand oil production.
By mid-afternoon in Europe, the benchmark U.S. oil contract for July delivery was up $1.88 to $106.28 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, the Nymex contract added 5 cents.
Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, was up $2.25 to $112.20 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
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