Crude prices rallied to a 2-1/2-year high level after surpassing $105 mark as retaliation by troops loyal to Col Gaddafi against rebels deepened worries that the civil war is escalating in Africas largest holder of oil reserves. The crude prices surged over one and half a percent as investors also closely tracked the developments in top exporter Saudi Arabia, where clerics forbid protests at the weekend.
Meanwhile, the massive 16% jump in crude prices has impelled the Obama government to mull over releasing emergency oil stockpiles as policymakers there seek measures to control the negative spillover to the world's biggest economy.
Benchmark crude for April delivery soared $1.90 to $106.32 a barrel, the highest level since September 2008, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London Brent Crude for April settlement rose by $1.27 to $117.24 a barrel on the ICE.
