Int'l oil futures rise above 100 USD amid Middle East conflicts

Alsharq Tribune-Ahmed Essam 

International crude oil futures surpassed 100 U.S. dollars per barrel late Sunday as military conflicts drag on in the Middle East.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for April delivery reached 111.24 dollars per barrel at one point, surging 20.34 dollars or 22.4 percent from Friday's close. Brent crude for May delivery jumped to 111.04 dollars per barrel at one point, up 18.35 dollars or 19.8 percent from the previous settlement price on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

Media reports said Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have cut oil output as they run out of storage space.

"We're not too long away before you'll see more regular resumption of ship traffic through the Straits of Hormuz," said U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright in an interview with CNN on Sunday.

However, Wright suggested it would take a few weeks to go back to normal traffic in the Straits of Hormuz.