 "Oil hits nine-month high near $115 on Iraq turmoil")
Brent crude hit a nine-month high near $115 a barrel on Thursday on concerns heavy fighting in Iraq could limit oil supply from Opec's second-biggest producer.
Government forces battled Sunni militants for control of Iraq's biggest refinery as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki waited for a US response to an appeal for air strikes to beat back the threat to Baghdad.
The Baiji refinery, 200 km (130 miles) north of the Iraqi capital, was a battlefield as troops loyal to the Shi'ite-led government held off insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and its allies who had stormed the perimeter, threatening national energy supplies.
"This would stress an already reasonably tight global balance further, depending on its duration," oil analysts at Vienna-based consultancy JBC Energy said in a note to clients.
Brent was poised for a third day of gains following a rise of more than four per cent last week after Islamist militants seized much of northern Iraq.
"There are clear concerns that significant supply disruption is not far off," said Tamas Varga, oil analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.
Brent was up 30 cents at $114.56 a barrel by 1115 GMT, after reaching an intraday peak of $114.80, its highest since September 9. On Wednesday, it ended up 81 cents at $114.26 a barrel, the highest settlement since September 6.
Government forces battled Sunni militants for control of Iraq's biggest refinery as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki waited for a US response to an appeal for air strikes to beat back the threat to Baghdad.
The Baiji refinery, 200 km (130 miles) north of the Iraqi capital, was a battlefield as troops loyal to the Shi'ite-led government held off insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and its allies who had stormed the perimeter, threatening national energy supplies.
"This would stress an already reasonably tight global balance further, depending on its duration," oil analysts at Vienna-based consultancy JBC Energy said in a note to clients.
Brent was poised for a third day of gains following a rise of more than four per cent last week after Islamist militants seized much of northern Iraq.
"There are clear concerns that significant supply disruption is not far off," said Tamas Varga, oil analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.
Brent was up 30 cents at $114.56 a barrel by 1115 GMT, after reaching an intraday peak of $114.80, its highest since September 9. On Wednesday, it ended up 81 cents at $114.26 a barrel, the highest settlement since September 6.