Oil Pushes Past $90 a Barrel

Oil rose in early trading Monday to more than $90 a barrel after jumping almost $4 from a two-month low Friday on concerns over unrest in Egypt, Bloomberg reported.

Crude futures rose $3.70 on Friday to finish the week at $89.34 a barrel. Thursday’s closing price of $85.64 had been the lowest since since Nov. 30.

Prices rose more than $1.50 in early Nymex trading Monday to near $91 a barrel, and the increases were due in part due to uncertainty over concerns that Suez Canal traffic could be affected by ongoing civil unrest in Egypt, Bloomberg said.

The 100-mile long canal and parallel Sumed oil pipeline are major chokepoints for Persian Gulf oil, Bloomberg reported.

The Department of Energy will release its weekly survey of diesel and gasoline prices Monday afternoon in Washington. Prices have risen for eight straight weeks to the highest levels since the record high year of 2008.