Oil on Biggest Tear in Decade as Global Supply Cushion Vanishes
- Traders bracing for $100-a-barrel crude as Iran sanctions bite
- Saudis, Russians see no need to augment existing supply lines
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Oil posted the longest string of quarterly gains in more than a decade as impending supply disruptions threaten to fracture a global market with little margin for error.
Futures rose 1.6 percent in New York on Friday while London-traded crude racked up its fifth quarterly advance, a streak not seen since the first half of 2008. This historical echo comes as consumers once again eye supply disruptions and worry about the availability of backup supplies, just as they were a decade ago when the benchmark hit an all-time high above $147.