Oil hits nine-month high near $115 on Iraq

LONDON — Brent crude hit a nine-month high near $115 a barrel on Thursday on concerns heavy fighting in Iraq could limit oil supply from the second-biggest producer of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Brent was up 50 cents at $114.76 a barrel by 1330 GMT, after reaching an intraday peak of $114.84, its highest since September 9.

The Baiji refinery, 200 kilometres north of the Iraqi capital near Tikrit, was a battlefield as troops loyal to the Shiite-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.

If the 300,000 barrels per day refinery stays closed for long, Baghdad will need to import more oil products to meet its own domestic consumption, further tightening oil markets.

"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 4 per cent last week.

"There are clear concerns that significant supply disruption is not far off," said Tamas Varga, oil analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.

The US crude oil futures contract for July, which expires on Friday, was down 30 cents at $105.67. Traders said investors were taking profits before the contract closed.

VTB Capital oil and commodities strategist Andrey Kryuchenkov said Brent was near the top of its current range around $115: "It will be hard to breach $115, but then there is little serious resistance until $120."

Oil prices found more support after the Federal Reserve gave a positive assessment of the US economy and committed to retaining accommodative monetary policy.

However, US crude eased back after data from the US Energy Information Administration showed domestic crude inventories declined by 579,000 barrels in the week ended June 13, much less than the drawdown of 5.7 million barrels reported by industry group American Petroleum Institute.

A Reuters poll of analysts had forecast a drawdown of 700,000 barrels.

Crude stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma rose by 247,000 barrels — the first increase at the oil storage hub after nine weeks of consecutive drawdowns.