The price of oil rose Monday, with global crude hovering near a nine-month high, after Islamic militants captured more territory in Iraq and a report on Chinese manufacturing indicated that the No. 2 economy is on the mend. In a blitz through Iraq’s western desert over the weekend, the insurgents captured four towns and three border crossings on the country’s frontiers with Jordan and Syria, greatly expanding territory under their control in the country’s north. “Any spillovers of fighting into the oil-producing southern parts of Iraq will likely take oil, in particular the Brent prices (already buoyed at US$115 a barrel) up by another leg,” Mizuho Bank analysts in Singapore said in a report. Brent crude, used to price international oils, jumped 63 cents to $115.44 a barrel in London, close to last Thursday’s $115.71, its highest level since Sept. 9 last year. Benchmark U.S. […]