Investors worried by the prospects of Mideast unrest sent oil prices rising for a second straight day yesterday, following exaggerated reports of Iranian warships steaming into the Suez Canal.

Crude from the region’s wells — which passes through the canal as the lifeline to Europe’s refineries and beyond — hit a 2½-year high in London at $104.52 a barrel before settling at $103.78, up $2.14. That is the price of Brent crude, which is not used in the US.

However, jitters spread to New York to push up the price of the crude oil pumped in the Western Hemisphere. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed $1 a barrel before settling at $84.99, up 67 cents.

Prices eased after the two purported warships turned out to be a frigate and supply ship that had been misidentified by an Israeli politician. But it didn’t ease concerns over the widening spread between the two distinctive types of crude that dominate global use.

That spread reached an unprecedented level of $16.31 a barrel yesterday, causing lopsided betting on the two versions of crude.