Crude oil prices rise on British/Iran incident

Crude oil prices were higher on Friday after Iran seized 15 British sailors in Iraqi waters in the Persian Gulf. The incident spurred fears that oil supplies could be disrupted. Still, at least one analyst said that although it points out the fragility of the oil market, the event in itself likely poses little threat to oil production in the region because Iran needs to stay in production in order to keep its oil income flowing.

West Texas Intermediate crude May contracts added 59 cents to $62.28 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The day’s advance brought the week’s gain to 4.5 percent over last Friday’s close. Nymex April gasoline was also higher , adding 4.08 cents to $1.9983 per gallon for a total gain of 4.8 percent on the week.. Nymex April heating oil, on the other hand, was 0.69 cents lower to $1.7111 per gallon, still a gain of 1.3 percent over the week. Natural gas was also up, by 5 percent, this week but on Friday prices fell by 5.1 cents to $7.269 per million British thermal units.