Oil prices hit 2014 highs on Iraq supply fears

Crude prices reached nine-month highs in mid-June as political instability and violence in Iraq stoked fears of supply outages

Brent futures reached 2014-highs of $112 per barrel (/b) on 12 June following violence in Iraq and continued outages in Libya.  On 10 June, hundreds of Sunni fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) seized control of Iraq’s second city, Mosul. The group then took control of vast swathes of Iraq’s Nineveh province, as well as the city of Tikrit.  On 19 June, Brent soared to over $115/b after ISIS seized control of Iraq's biggest oil refinery, the Baiji facility north of Tikrit. The Iraqi government later regained control of the refinery after 24 hours of heavy fighting. However, the situation remains fluid, with heavy fighting continuing as Petroleum Economist went to pre