Brent Crude Rises on Syria as WTI Spread Widens
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Brent crude climbed to a three-week high as Syria threatened retaliation against Israel for an air strike. The European benchmark grade’s premium to West Texas Intermediate oil widened from a 16-month low.
Prices rose 1.3 percent after Syria’s state news agency said Israeli aircraft attacked a military research center on the outskirts of Damascus yesterday. The Middle East accounted for 33 percent of global crude output in 2011, according to BP Plc’s Statistical Review of World Energy. The gap between WTI and Brent grew for the first time in three days. Gains accelerated after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed to a record.