Oil rises above $101

Benchmark U.S. crude-oil futures rose past $101 a barrel in electronic trade Wednesday, surging on concerns about the Middle East oil trade, after Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi rejected calls for his resignation amid an extremely tense standoff with protestors.

Crude for August delivery  came off a level that saw it shoot past $102 a barrel during Asian trading hours. Crude rose $1.61, or 1.6%, to $101.19 a barrel, which is still around levels not seen since May 2012.

Wednesday’s sharp rise for crude came as Morsi, in a late-night address carried on Egyptian state television, said he was willing “to pay my life to protect the legitimacy” of the democratic process and the country’s constitution. Opposition protesters say the new constitution unfairly favors Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Millions of protestors in Egypt are calling for Morsi’s resignation, a year into his term as the country’s first democratically elected president.

Although Egypt doesn’t export oil, it serves as a transit hub for oil through the Suez Canal and the Suez-Mediterranean pipeline.

On Monday, the Egyptian military warned Morsi that it would intervene in the political crisis if Morsi didn’t resolve it within 48 hours.

In addition to Egypt, the ongoing civil war in Syria remains a point of concern among energy traders because of Syria’s proximity to oil-rich Iraq.

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