Investing.com - Crude oil prices held gain into Asia on Friday as continued strife in Iraq underpinned concerns on supply.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for delivery in July traded at $106.96 a barrel, up 0.40%, after hitting an overnight session low of $104.36 a barrel and off a high of $1,275.00, its highest settlement since September.
The price of a barrel of Brent oil, traded on the ICE Europe, settled at its highest level since September, climbing 2.8% to $113.02 a barrel, on Thursday.
Iraqi insurgents linked to al-Qaeda reportedly took full control of the northern oil city of Kirkuk on Thursday and advanced closer to the capital, Baghdad.
On Wednesday, militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, seized the northern cities of Mosul and Tikrit, renewing concerns over a disruption to supplies from the region.
The U.S. said that it is working with Iraq's leaders on a coordinated response to regain lost territory and would provide additional assistance to Baghdad.
Earlier Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama said Iraq would need assistance from the U.S. to push the insurgents back.
Geopolitical concerns eclipsed otherwise bearish U.S. data.
The Commerce Department reported earlier that U.S. retail sales rose 0.3% in May, missing expectations for a 0.6% gain, reminding investors that the U.S. economy still faces potholes that my dampen demand for fuel and energy. However, retail sales for April were revised up to a 0.5% gain from a previously reported increase of 0.1%.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, eased up 0.1% in May, disappointing forecasts for a 0.2% increase. Core sales in April were revised up to 0.4% from a previously reported flat reading.
Separately, the Labor Department reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending June 7 increased by 4,000 to 317,000, confounding expectations for a decline of 3,000, though markets largely shrugged off the report.