London — Oil rose further above $68 a barrel on Thursday to the highest since May 2015. Crude prices were supported by unrest in Iran, which raised concern about risks to supplies, as well as by cold weather in the US boosting demand, and Opec-led output cuts. Six days of anti-government protests in Iran, oil cartel Opec’s third-largest producer, have added a geopolitical risk premium to oil prices. The unrest has not, however, affected production or exports in Iran. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 6c at $67.90 a barrel at 10.05am GMT and traded as high as $68.27. US crude rose 23c to $61.86 and also touched the highest since May 2015. "There is enough support for prices with the cold in the US and the geopolitical factor," said Olivier Jakob, oil analyst at Petromatrix. Freezing US weather has spurred short-term demand, especially for heating oil. Apart from the spike in May 2015, oil is trading at its highest since December 2014 — the month after a historic decisi...
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