Egypt Is Driving Oil Prices Skyward

Brent prices continue to track the death toll from Egyptian unrest as both climbed higher Thursday.

Egypt's Health Ministry now says 525 people have been killed as the army cracks down on supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, according to the New York Times.

Meanwhile, Brent was up as much as 0.90% this morning, hitting a four-month high of $111.15, according to the Wall Street Journal. The London-traded contract was also pushed higher by uncertainty about production out of Libya, where turmoil is having an even more direct impact on markets.

Here's the chart:

U.S.-traded WTI was also up 0.30% to more than $107.86 on declining inventories.