By Florence Tan
SINGAPORE, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Oil prices added to recent
gains on Monday, with Brent nearly at $70 a barrel as escalating
tensions in the Middle East fanned worries about disruptions to
supplies.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose to a high of $69.95 a
barrel and were at $69.65 a barrel at 0016 GMT, up $1.05, or
1.5%, from Friday's settlement.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $63.86 a barrel,
up 81 cents, or 1.3%, after touching an intraday high of $64.27.
Oil prices jumped more than 3% on Friday after the United
States killed a top Iranian commander in an air strike on
Baghdad airport.
The Iraqi government on Sunday called on American and other
foreign troops to leave Iraq, heightening concerns of a widening
Middle East conflict that may disrupt oil supplies from the
region.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened "major
retaliation" against Iran if Tehran were to retaliate for the
killing. "The assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani will
trigger a long cycle of regional escalation with significant
risks to U.S. assets and Mideast energy infrastructure that
nevertheless stop short of war," Eurasia Group analyst Ayham
Kamel said in a note.
"But the risk of limited conflict is real. It would include
substantial Iranian attacks on Gulf energy targets and direct
naval clashes between the U.S. and Iran."
The Middle East accounts for nearly half of the world's oil
production, while Iraq is the second largest producer among the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).