U.S. Oil Fund (NYSEArca: USO) is on a five-day rally as markets nervously await a possible U.S. military strike on Syria.
The ETF, which invests in crude futures, is up more than 3% so far this week. U.S. crude futures have traded above $112 a barrel this week.
“Syria isn’t a major oil producer — its output is less than 100,000 barrels a day vs. about 400,000 before its civil war started two years ago. But oil prices have been rising since July, when political upheaval Egypt sparked concerns about access to supply routes through the Suez Canal,” reports Gary Strauss for USA Today.
“The region was already under pressure before Syria’s uncertainty caused crude to spike. Civil unrest in Iraq is rising again — more than 1,000 Iraqis were killed in July, the highest monthly death toll since 2008,” according to the article.
USO is up nearly 16% the past three months.