Crude Oil Rises to a 3-Month High on Increased Iranian Tension (Mark Shenk)

  Crude oil jumped almost $1 a barrel in New York to the highest price this year after Iran took British naval personnel captive and the UN imposed sanctions on the country.

  By Mark Shenk

  March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil jumped almost $1 a barrel in New York to the highest price this year after Iran took British naval personnel captive and the UN imposed sanctions on the country.

  The U.K. government said it was ``utterly confident'' that 15 members of its military were in Iraqi waters when they were seized by Iranian forces on March 23. The United Nations Security Council approved new sanctions on March 24 over Iran's atomic program, voting unanimously to freeze the assets of a state-owned Iranian bank and impose penalties on some military commanders.

  ``The Iranians are still holding the British forces, which a lot of us thought would be resolved by now,'' said Tom Bentz, an oil broker with BNP Paribas Inc. in New York. ``The sanctions against Iran have been strengthened as well, which is a reminder of the tensions in the region. It looks like the standoff will be going on for a long time.''

  Crude oil for May delivery rose 63 cents, or 1 percent, to $62.91 a barrel at 12:02 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures touched $63.30, the highest for a front-month contract since Dec. 21. The May futures contract reached $63.75 on March 8. Prices are down 2.2 percent from a year ago.

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