Oil prices rose to their highest levels in 2½ years Tuesday following a pipeline explosion in Libya, the latest disruption to supplies in an already tightening market. U.S. crude futures briefly popped above $60 before settling up 2.57% at $59.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, their highest settlement since June, 2015. Brent, the global benchmark, rose $1.77, or 2.71%, to $67.02 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, the highest settlement since May, 2015. Prices rose sharply after an explosion Tuesday on a pipeline leading to Libya’s largest oil port of Es Sider. The incident is expected to reduce oil production there by up to 100,000 barrels a day, the country’s National Oil Co. said on its website. The company said it was investigating the causes of the blast. The radical Islamic State and other armed groups have frequently attacked oil facilities in the war-torn nation. Some […]