NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, on Thursday pushed above $115 a barrel for the first time since September, boosted by continued worries over Iraq and extended gains after President Barack Obama said U.S. troops won’t return to combat in the country but that targeted military strikes are an option.

ICE August Brent futures UK:LCOQ4 rose to $115.71 a barrel, its highest level since September after Obama’s comments. Brent ended up 80 cents, or 0.7%, at $115.06 a barrel.

Nymex July WTI crude CLN24, , the U.S. benchmark, rose 46 cents to close at $106.43 a barrel, pushing back toward last week’s high above $107. In energy-product markets, July gasoline US:RBN4 rose 2.73 cents, or 0.9%, to close at $3.1255 a gallon, its highest close since July 16, 2013.

Obama on Thursday said the U.S. is prepared to take targeted military action in Iraq if warranted and that the U.S. would send up to 300 military advisers to the country. He insisted, however, that U.S. troops won’t be returning to combat in the country.

The U.S. footprint “in that area is getting bigger and bigger,” said Robert Yawger, director for energy futures at Mizuho Securities, in a phone interview. That adds to uncertainty over the situation, which in turn feeds the building of a risk premium in oil prices.

But unless Iraq’s southern oil fields and facilities in the south of the country, which remain far from the current fighting, become endangered, it’s difficult to see Brent challenging the highs from late last year above $116, he said.

A general view of Iraq’s Beiji oil refinery in January 2009. Reuters

News reports said Iraqi government forces continued to battle Sunni militants for control of the country’s biggest oil refinery in the northern town of Beiji. The refinery produces oil for domestic consumption and the fight isn’t seen directly impacting exports from Iraq’s crucial southern oil fields and facilities.

However, reports Wednesday that major oil companies have begun to move nonessential personnel out of the south have highlighted concerns that exports could be curtailed. Iraq exports around 2.5 million barrels a day. Strategists have warned that significant disruptions could send oil toward $125 a barrel or higher. Meanwhile, the conflict has undercut expectations for Iraq to boost future oil production, which could provide a long-term floor for prices. See: Why Iraq means you can kiss idea of sub-$100 oil goodbye.

“Specifically, key infrastructure developments might be delayed, hampering export growth in spite of rising export handling capacity at Basra,” in the south, wrote strategists at JBC Energy. However, in the north of Iraq, “the apparent consolidation of Kurdish power may in fact even herald higher exports,” they said in a note.

Nymex futures were undercut Wednesday by a smaller-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventories reported by the Energy Information Administration.

In other energy product markets, July heating oil US:HON4 rose 1.23 cents to $3.0525 a gallon. July natural-gas futures US:NGN14 fell 7.5 cents, or 1.6%, to $4.584 per million British thermal units.

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