NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Crude futures surged above $100 a barrel Thursday, reaching the highest level in two and a half years, as violent clashes in Libya disrupted oil supplies from the key exporter.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery recently traded $1.57, or 1.5%, higher at $99.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after hitting $103.41 earlier in the session, the highest price since September, 2008.
Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange rose $3 to $114.25 a barrel.
Supporters of Moammar Gadhafi's decades-long rule in Libya struck back against protesters that now control much of the eastern part of the North African nation. Opposition groups have risen up in cities close to Tripoli, the capital, Thursday.
The unrest is disrupting oil supplies from the world's 12th-largest crude exporter, and raising concerns that turmoil in the Middle East will spread to other major oil producers, such as Algeria.
Libya's oil output has dropped 75% from pre-crisis levels of about 1।6 million barrels a day, according to Eni SpA Chief Executive Paolo Scarolini, head of the international energy company with the largest operations in the country. International oil companies in Libya are evacuating staff amid port closures and escalating violence.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110224-712464.html
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