Brent crude traded near its lowest level in nine months amid speculation that U.S. air strikes in Iraq diminished the threat to oil supplies posed by insurgents. West Texas Intermediate was little changed. Futures lost as much as 0.3 percent in London. U.S. jets and drone aircraft hit Islamic State fighters in multiple attacks intended to protect American personnel and prevent a massacre of ethnic and religious minorities in northern Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki deployed troops and tanks on the streets of Baghdad as he resists U.S. President Barack Obama ’s push for a more inclusive government. The U.S. action “eased fears of oil supply disruptions as hopes increased that this would prevent the Islamic State militants from gaining more land,” Michael Poulsen, an analyst at Global Risk Management Ltd. in Middelfart, Denmark , said in a report. Brent for September settlement slipped 21 cents, or 0.2 […]