Oil Traders See Lasting Mideast Instability

The Mideast uprisings and a recovering world economy have pushed oil prices to the highest levels since 2008: $121 recently for Brent crude. Yet except for Libyan crude, which provides 2 percent of world supplies, oil is flowing unimpeded.

Still, traders are focused on a new perception that an Age of Uncertainty has arrived in the Mideast that isn't going away anytime soon. Hakan Kocayusufpasaoglu, an oil trader who runs hedge fund Archbridge Capital in Zug, Switzerland, puts it bluntly: "They are all failed states," he says of the oil producers. "I think there is a decent chance of the contagion spreading." He says prices are headed toward $150 a barrel.