CRISISBOOM

CHARLES WALLACE

Some crude oil prices brushed $100 a barrel Monday as fears escalated that the violence in Egypt would spread to other parts of the oil-producing Middle East. But so far, no reports have surfaced that the disturbances in Egypt have disrupted oil deliveries.

Brent crude oil surged to $99.97 a barrel on London’s ICE futures exchange, up about 5% since the beginning of last week, when violence spread from Tunisia to Egypt. In U.S. trading, West Texas Intermediate shot up 1.7% on Monday, but was still about $10 a barrel cheaper than Brent crude, its European counterpart.

Julius Walker, a senior analyst at the International Energy Agency in Paris, says the organization has received no reports that oil shipments were being delayed, but the website of the agency that runs the Suez Canal has been shut down by the ban on Internet use in Egypt, so a precise reading isn’t available.

“Nothing has been affected. It’s just the worry of it,” Walker says.

A Chokepoint for Europe-Bound Oil

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