nymex prices over the past month. they spiked over february 18th as the opposition movement gained momentum against libyan leader moammar gadhafi. and brent crude is also on the rise up nearly $1.33 right now trading near $114 a barrel. brent oil tends to be the most vulnerable to upsets in north africa and the middle east. that s why there s been a steady rise in prices. since popular uprisings kicked off in tunisia and egypt. concerns about rising oil prices have been hitting stock markets, as well. saudi arabia closed at a nine-month low on sunday, down almost 2%. the dubai financial market is down more than 4%. and bahrain s bourse has also slipped slightly. well, meanwhile, britain is defending itself military-led