Oil Rises to Nine-Month High, Over $98 a Barrel

Oil rose to more than $98 a barrel Monday, a nine-month high, on speculation that widening Middle East unrest may disrupt supplies, Bloomberg News reported.

Benchmark light sweet crude futures gained about 40 cents to $98.26 in early trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg said.

Oil has not finished a Nymex trading day at more than $98 since Sept. 14, when it closed at $99 a barrel.

Crude rose more than $1 to finish Friday at $97.85 a barrel, the highest closing price since Jan. 30.

The Department of Energy will release its weekly survey of diesel and gasoline filling stations Monday afternoon in Washington.