Oil prices rise as U.N. approves force against Kadafi

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Oil prices rose in electronic trading late Thursday after the United Nations Security Council authorized military force against Libyan strongman Moammar Kadafi.

U.S. crude futures, which had jumped $3.44 to $101.42 a barrel in regular trading before the U.N. vote, were trading at $102.94 a barrel at about 8:15 p.m. PDT.

The price of oil in London was at $116 a barrel, up $1.09.

Kadafi’s forces on Thursday appeared poised to obliterate rebels who have taken control of key eastern cities, The Times’ Borzou Daragahi reported from Tripoli, Libya.

In anticipation of the U.N. vote, Kadafi warned that Libya would mount terror attacks across the Mediterranean for years to come if foreign powers took up arms against him, The Times’ Paul Richter reported from Washington.

‘If the world gets crazy, we will get crazy,’ Kadafi said.

U.S. oil prices hit a two-year high of $105.44 a barrel March 7 amid escalating unrest in Libya and in the Middle East. The price slid this week to as low as $97.18 on Tuesday, partly on expectations that Japan’s devastating earthquake could dim the country’s oil demand in the short term by halting or slowing industrial production.

But prices rebounded Thursday as concerns about the Middle East and North Africa took center stage again in energy markets.

-- Tom Petruno

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