Capital And Foreign Oil Firms News

Brent crude held near $115 a barrel on Friday, close to a nine-month high, and was headed for its second weekly gain on increased risks of disruption to supply from Iraq. Iraqi government forces battled Sunni militants for control of the country's biggest refinery on Thursday. If the 300,000 barrels per day refinery stays closed, Baghdad will need to import more oil products to meet its own domestic consumption, further tightening oil markets. Fields south of Baghdad, where most of Iraq's 3.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil is produced, as well as exports remain unaffected. But heavy fighting north of the capital and foreign oil firms beginning to pull out staff pose a risk to supplies from OPEC's number two producer.