LONDON  - Crude prices rose on Monday, briefly closing on 117 dollars a barrel after fighting between Georgia and Russia halted oil exports through Georgian ports at the weekend. Gains were capped later as profit-taking set in, traders said. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, rose as high as 116.90 dollars a barrel in electronic dealing. It later stood at 115.99 dollars, up 79 cents compared to the close on Friday. Brent North Sea crude for September delivery was 80 cents higher at 114.13 dollars per barrel after spiking to 115.32 dollars earlier on Monday. "Crude future were higher on concerns the Russia-Georgia conflict would disrupt Caspian sea supplies," said Nimit Khamar, oil analyst at the Sucden brokerage in London. The head of Azerbaijan's state oil company had said on Saturday that exports had been halted via two Georgian ports owing to the fighting. That announcement came shortly after Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze said that Russian warplanes had staged a raid near the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, the world's second longest. Georgia does not produce oil but the country is a key transit point for crude and gas exports from Azerbaijan to markets in the West. On Monday, US President George W. Bush condemned the Russian military offensive against Georgia, saying the violence in South Ossetia was unacceptable and Moscow's bombing disproportionate. Russia sent thousands of troops, tanks and air support into South Ossetia on Friday after Georgia launched an offensive to seize control of the province, which broke from Georgia in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia has given the separatist province diplomatic and economic support, including granting citizenship to most of its residents. Global Insight analyst Natalia Leshchenko said the conflict should have little effect on the region's oil pipelines in the immediate future. "The task of the Russian forces at present is to ensure control of South Ossetia... The pipelines would be in danger only if the war escalated," she told AFP. Concerns over supply disruptions had pushed crude oil prices to record highs above 147 dollars in July but slowing global economic growth has seen them fall sharply in recent weeks.