WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Record high oil prices over the past week have been attributed to the possible loss of supply from northern Iraq, but the potential for a change in the regional balance of power, as well as other events around the world -- from Alaska to Nigeria -- have also tightened the markets, according to an expert in Middle East oil policy.

Oil prices topped $90 a barrel on Friday, a record high that comes as world headlines reported the Turkish government has authorized its military to cross the border into northern Iraq to stop terrorist attacks carried out by a Kurdish separatist group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

“A Turkish incursion that weakens the Kurdish government will not only stop Iraqi oil exports from the north, but it will also change the power balance in the Middle East, worsen the relationship between Turkey and the U.S., and embolden Iran and Syria,” according to A.F. Alhajji, a professor of energy economics at Ohio Northern University and expert on Middle East energy markets.

“It is this change in the balance of power that will change the outlook for world oil markets and put pressure on prices,” Alhajji said.

The United States worsened its relations with Turkey last week when the U.S. House of Representatives moved forward with a bill that would officially refer to the killing of 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as “genocide.” The possibility of such a bill was immediately criticized by the White House, but Turkey reacted swiftly, recalling its ambassador.