Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate and Brent oil futures edged higher on Monday, as concerns over escalating violence in Iraq continued to support prices.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.36%, or 38 cents, to trade at $106.55 a barrel during European morning hours. Nymex oil hit $107.68 on Friday, the most since September 19, 2013.
New York-traded oil futures rallied 3.97%, or $4.25 a barrel, last week, the biggest weekly gain since December.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for August delivery tacked on 0.44%, or $112.95 a barrel. Brent prices rallied to $114.07 on Friday, the highest since September 9.
The London-traded Brent contract rallied 3.42%, or $3.85 a barrel, last week.
Markets continued to monitor developments in Iraq, where the conflict between radical Sunni insurgents and Shiite Iraqi soldiers continued over the weekend, underlining concerns over a disruption to supplies from the country.
Iraq produced approximately 3.5 million barrels a day of oil last month, making it OPEC’s second-biggest oil producer behind Saudi Arabia.
Investors were also cautious ahead of the outcome of the upcoming Federal Reserve policy meeting on Wednesday, as they await fresh indications on the timing of possible interest rates increases.
The U.S. is to produce data on industrial production and manufacturing activity in the Empire State later in the day.