Oil supply disruption could hike crude price to $200: Societe Generale

TEHRAN,Feb.18(MNA)--Traders are bidding up crude by as much as 15 percent on the assumption that conflict with Iran will lead to the biggest disruption to the Persian Gulf oil supplies since 1991, according to Societe Generale SA, which said prices may jump to $200 should cargoes be interrupted. Brent, the benchmark grade for more than half the world’s oil, is trading for $5 to $15 a barrel more than it would without the standoff with Iran. UBS AG, Switzerland’s biggest bank, said the risk of a confrontation that would shut off shipments through the Persian Gulf has added about $10 to the price of crude.