Oil prices rose a further 2% on Monday, pushing Brent above $70 a barrel, as rhetoric from the United States, Iran and Iraq fanned tensions in the Middle East after the killing of a top Iranian general. Brent crude futures LCOc1 soared to a high of $70.74 a barrel and was at $70.03 at 0747 GMT, up $1.43, or 2.1%, from Friday’s settlement. U.S. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 crude was at $64.15 a barrel, up $1.10, or 1.7%, after touching $64.72 earlier, the highest since April. The gains extended Friday’s more-than-3% surge after a U.S. air strike in Iraq killed Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani on Friday, heightening concerns that a widening Middle East conflict that could disrupt oil supplies. The region accounts for nearly half of the world’s oil […]