Brent near 10-month high

Brent crude futures settled near a ten-month high above $125 a barrel on Friday, posting a fifth straight weekly gain as heightened concerns over tensions with Iran about its nuclear programme and cuts in supply sent oil prices up on both sides of the Atlantic. News that Iran has sharply stepped up its controversial uranium enrichment efforts, in a report from the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), pushed both Brent and US crude to their highest intraday peaks since May. "The IAEA report caused this pop up," said Dan Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago. Brent April crude rose $1.85 to close at $125.47 a barrel, the highest settlement since April 29. Friday's $125.55 peak was the highest intraday price since May 2. The weekly gain of 4.93 per cent was the best weekly percentage rise since the week to January 6. US April crude rose $1.94 to settle at $109.77 a barrel, the highest close since May 3, and up a seventh straight session, the longest string of gains since a ten-day stretch starting in late December 2009 and extending into January 2010. For the week, front-month US crude rose 6.33 per cent, the strongest weekly gain since the week to December 23.