<p dir="LTR"><span>Financial Tribune - Oil rose on Monday after top crude exporter Saudi Arabia and other Arab states cut ties with Qatar, driving up prices on concerns over increased tension in the Middle East.</span></p> <p dir="LTR"><span>Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain closed transport links with top liquefied natural gas and condensate shipper Qatar, accusing it of undermining regional stability, CNBC reported.</span></p> <p dir="LTR"><span>The move pushed Brent crude prices up 35 cents, or 0.7%, to $50.30 a barrel, having risen as much as 1% earlier in the session. US West Texas Intermediate futures were at $48.03 a barrel, up 37 cents.</span></p> <p dir="LTR"><span>With a production capacity of about 600,000 barrels per day, Qatar's crude oil output is one of OPEC's smallest. But tensions within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries could potentially impact on an agreement to cut production in order to support global prices.</span></p> <p dir="LTR"><span>"I think it is still going to be a bit of a debate on the true impact it can have on the oil market," said Olivier Jakob, strategist at Petromatrix.</span></p> <p dir="LTR"><span>"In terms of oil flows it does not change very much but there is a wider geopolitical impact one needs to consider," Jakob added, explaining that a breakdown in relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia could weaken the OPEC-led agreement on production cuts.</span></p>