crude oil futures

Civil unrest in the Middle East continues to push oil prices higher as companies with Libyan operations shut down production, threatening oil exports to Europe.

Crude oil futures on Wednesday hit the $100 a barrel level on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) for the first time since September 2008. The April contract was as high as $100.91 in pre-market trading yesterday (Thursday).

Prices are even higher in Europe as its market is much more sensitive to Libyan oil export disruption. April Brent crude futures contract rose $2.45, or 2.2%, to $113.75 a barrel yesterday and hit an intraday high of $119.79, the highest level since mid-2008.

Volatility and uncertainty are driving both prices up, according to Money Morning Contributing Editor Dr. Kent Moors, a noted energy expert and editor of the Oil and Energy Investor.

"The Brent is far more sensitive to what's occurring in the Middle East than the [West Texas Intermediate] WTI in New York," Moors said in a FoxBusiness interview Wednesday. "The Brent also is more widely traded internationally than WTI is. So the end result is whenever you get an uncertainty situation like the one we currently have, Brent is going to be spiking further."