Crude oil prices continued to surge on Friday, as the crisis in the Middle East deepens. Benchmark crude West Texas Intermediate was trading at its highest level since April 24 last year at $85.05, gaining more than 8% on the day and up about 26% for the week. Similarly, Brent rose 5.5% on a daily basis to trade at $87.80. Earlier in the day, the Financial Times reported that Qatar’s Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi warned that the ongoing war in the Middle East, which involves the US, Israel and Iran, could drive ‌oil prices to $150 a barrel. Kaabi added The post Oil prices surge as Middle East chaos widens appeared first on Financial Mirror .