OIL prices have hit a nine-month high of more than $110 a barrel following days of violence in Iraq.
The increase prompted warnings it could soon hit the cost of petrol at the pumps.
The recent turmoil in Iraq has spooked the markets, which are concerned about the outlook for future oil production.
Earlier this week, al Qaeda-inspired insurgents the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant captured a number of key cities in Iraq, including the second-largest city Mosul, in a region considered a gateway for the nation's oil.
Since then rebel Kurdish forces in the north of the country have also taken Kirkuk, another oil hub.
The motoring organisation RAC warned the disruption could add more than 2p to the price of a litre of petrol in the UK.
But rival breakdown firm the AA urged calm, saying that there was no need for retailers to bring in a "knee-jerk price rise".
Talk of petrol price increases led to fears that a prolonged conflict in Iraq could raise the price of goods imported into the UK.
There were also warnings that the oil price could rise even higher if the situation in Iraq deteriorates.
US President Barack Obama yesterday warned Iraq's government it must make a serious effort to address sectarian differences or US military help would fail to curb the insurgency. He said: "We can't do it for them."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article