London — Oil prices crept higher on Tuesday, holding on to gains made as fighting between Iraqi and Kurdish forces threatened supplies from northern Iraq, while political tension rose between the US and Iran. After months of range-bound trading, during which oil cartel Opec-led supply cuts supported crude values — but rising US output capped markets — prices have moved up significantly this month. Brent crude oil was up 25c at $58.07 a barrel by 8.45am GMT, up almost a third from its mid-year levels. US light, sweet crude was 25c higher at $52.12. Iraqi government forces captured the Kurdish-held oil city of Kirkuk on Monday, responding to a Kurdish independence referendum. There were unconfirmed reports that Kurdish forces had terminated about 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil production from major fields. "In the case of Kurdistan, the 500,000 bpd Kirkuk oil field cluster is at risk," Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients. Tension between the US and Iran is rising, also raisi...
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