WTI back above $100 per barrel

Crude oil prices were higher again on Tuesday, closing above $100 per barrel in New York and closing in on that level in London.

April contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude added $1.53 to $100.74 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude jumped $1.64 to $99.33 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Continuing fighting between Turkish troops and Kurdish militants in northern Iraq pushed prices up on worries that oil supplies from the region could be disrupted, while speculative buying also supported prices as some traders bet that worldwide demand will keep prices higher even with a slowing US economy.

Nymex March gasoline was down, but by less than a cent, to $2.53 per gallon while April heating oil added 3 cents $2.79 and April natural gas gained 1 cent to $9.23 per million British thermal units.