Oil prices have surged to their highest levels since last summer amid growing threats that the U.S. will launch military strikes against Iran.
Prices jumped more than 4 percent Wednesday and continued to swell Thursday morning, with the global benchmark Brent crude at over $71 per barrel, while oil from the U.S. is around $66. Iran is one of the world’s top oil producers, at about 5 percent, so a war with the nation could hurt world supply of the commodity.