Oil rises on Russia-Georgia conflict

Vienna: Oil prices rebounded on Monday following concerns of widening conflict between Georgia and Russia over the breakaway province of South Ossetia.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose 79 cents to $115.99 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by noon in Europe.

In London, Brent crude for September delivery rose $1.77 to $115.10 a barrel.

"The market is watching what happens there closely," said Mark Pervan, senior commodity strategist at ANZ Bank in Melbourne.

"It's not a major oil producer, but there are major transport links to Europe through that region," Pervan said.

Vienna's JBC Energy cited the Azeri company Socar as saying shipments from the two Georgian ports, Batumi and Kulevi ceased during the weekend.