By Chris Oliver
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures edged higher in holiday-thinned trading early Monday afternoon in East Asia, with benchmark crude for February delivery CL2G +0.33% up 0.2% at $99.68 a barrel on the Comex division of the New York Stock Exchange. Senior Gulf oil ministers expressed concern over the weekend that war games by Iran, underway since Saturday and due to last 10 days, could disrupt oil-tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, an area that accounts for about one-third of all seaborne oil trade. Iran has said the military maneuvers won't block oil shipments, although one Iranian lawmaker said earlier in December that Tehran should practice its ability to close the shipping route.
