LONDON, Dec 18: Oil prices rose strongly on Tuesday, catapulting above 92 dollars a barrel on Middle East supply concerns as Turkish troops entered northern Iraq to flush out Kurdish rebels, traders said

Brent North Sea crude for February delivery surged 1.42 dollars to 92.71 dollars per barrel.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for January, soared 1.51 dollars to 92.14 dollars per barrel.

“Support came from news that Turkish troops crossed the border with northern Iraq, moving into Kurdish territory,” Sucden analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov said.

About 300 Turkish troops entered northern Iraq on Tuesday in the first ground incursion targeting Kurdish rebels since tensions between Ankara and Baghdad erupted over the rebel issue in October.

“While any conflict in the region is a risk, I don’t think it is in anyone’s interests to disrupt the flow of oil,” said Global Insight analyst Simon Wardell.

Oil prices had fallen on Monday as market participants fretted over the outlook for the US economy amid fears that a potential economic slowdown could dampen oil demand.

A report released last Friday showed that oil prices drove US consumer inflation to its highest peaks in more than two years last month, raising concerns that the Federal Reserve will hold back from further interest rate cuts to underpin economic momentum.

Ahead of the inflation report’s publication, both the International Energy Agency and Opec had raised their estimates for global oil demand next year.

Oil prices surged to a record high of 99.29 dollars a barrel on November 21, which led to widespread calls for Opec to hike output at its meeting in Abu Dhabi earlier this month.

However, Opec decided against increasing production, as it insisted that the market was well supplied.--AFP