easyJet Share News (EZJ)

Rising crude prices gave oil producers a boost on Wednesday as escalating tensions in Syria continue to fuel concerns over supplies in the Middle East.These fears have been heightened in recent days due to a possible US military intervention in Syria following last week's alleged chemical weapons attack. While Syria is relatively insignificant on the scale of the global oil market, there are now worries that any form of Western strike could spill over into the rest of the region.While the Syrian government has so far denied the use of chemical weapons, US Vice President Joe Biden has said there is "no doubt" that it carried out the attack and it must be held accountable.West Texas crude futures were trading at a two-year high of $112.24 a barrel this morning while Brent crude jumped to a six-month high of $117.34.Markets are now concerned about how much further oil has to go and what the knock-on effect of elevated prices on the global economy will be."A further rise in oil prices would threaten to turn a lacklustre global recovery into something approaching stagnation," said Chief Global Economist Julian Jessop from Capital Economics."However, the 'worst-case' scenario of significant disruption to energy supplies from the region still seems highly unlikely," he said.Blue chips in the oil and gas sector were making decent gains today, including BG Group, Royal Dutch Shell, Tullow Oil and BP.Mid-cap peers EnQuest, Soco International and Premier Oil were also in demand today.However, rising oil prices were having an adverse effect on airline stocks today given concerns about how they will feed into jet fuel costs. IAG and easyJet were heavy fallers this afternoon.Top performing sectors so far todayOil & Gas Producers 7,952.21 +1.65%Electricity 9,991.67 +0.08%Bottom performing sectors so far todayForestry & Paper 10,679.80 -3.55%Automobiles & Parts 7,556.63 -2.47%Household Goods & Home Construction 9,958.62 -2.23%Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,014.17 -2.18%Travel & Leisure 6,418.36 -2.13% BC