Comment on Real war rattles oil prices

In the oil market, missiles over the Middle East are trumping just about everything else.Geopolitical tensions are affecting prices now and will lift crude higher if they persist, Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, said in an interview on Thursday. Meanwhile, trade disputes such as the one between United States and China that’s hurt investor sentiment recently are not unusual and won’t have “a direct impact on oil markets for now,” he said on Bloomberg Television in New Delhi.Crude has surged to levels last seen in 2014 as the risk of violent conflict grips the market and raises concerns over potential Middle East supply disruptions.