Oil at 5-week high above $102 a barrel

Business

Oil at 5-week high above $102 a barrel

Close

Oil rose to the highest level in five weeks as tension between Iran and West escalated.

18 February,2012 03:23 am

Tensions between Iran and the West continued to weigh on energy markets as oil rose to the highest level in five weeks on Thursday.Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude rose 45 cents to $102.24 in New York, while Brent crude, which is used to price foreign oil imported by U.S. refineries, rose $1.08 to $120.01 in London.The price of WTI has risen about more than 3 percent since the start of the year. The increase in Brent has been even steeper, up nearly 12 percent.Iran has been the center of attention in the Middle East and the oil market since November. It has threatened to cut off oil supplies to Europe to retaliate for an embargo that the EU plans to implement this summer.The U.S. and Europe are using sanctions to pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear program, which they fear will be used to develop a bomb. Iran denies the claim. The European Union buys about 18 percent of Irans total crude exports.Iran relies on oil exports for about half of its revenue. Iran state media reported Wednesday that Iran would halt exports to six European countries. Irans Foreign Ministry later denies that.Analysts think Iran would hurt itself by stopping crude shipments.Oil prices spiked at this time last year with uprisings in several Middle East nations, particularly Libya. Investors who worried about major disruptions in supplies bought oil and drove up the price. WTI is up 21 percent from a year ago, when it sold for around $85 a barrel. Brent is up about 15 percent.In other energy trading Thursday, heating oil rose almost a penny to $3.20 per gallon and gasoline futures rose 4 cents to $3.04 per gallon.