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Oil prices rebound above 72 dollars on Iran news
AFP
NEW YORK
Petroleumworld.com 04 30 06
Oil prices rebounded on Friday following a UN report on Iran's nuclear programme that opened the door to sanctions or even military action against the world's fourth-biggest crude producer.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, went as high as 72.65 dollars a barrel before closing up 91 cents at 71.88 dollars.
In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for June delivery also reached 72.65 dollars, going on to settle 1.11 dollars higher at 72.02 dollars a barrel.
"People are covering their positions before the weekend. We don't know what's going to happen with Iran," PFC Energy analyst Jamal Qureshi said.
UN nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei said in a report that Iran had failed to comply with a deadline of Friday to halt uranium enrichment, in an appraisal that has the potential to lead to international sanctions.
Uranium enrichment makes fuel for civilian nuclear reactors but can also produce nuclear weapons material.
In reaction to the report, US President George W. Bush said Tehran's nuclear ambitions were "dangerous", but that Washington wanted to resolve the dispute "diplomatically and peacefully".
The deadlock over Iran has prompted calls from Western powers for tough UN action, while the United States has reportedly not ruled out taking military action.
Before the report by ElBaradei's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), crude futures had traded lower for much of Friday on receding worries over US gasoline supplies.
"We can expect the West to reply, even including the possibility of force, raising the temperature in the oil market again over the next several days and weeks, likely lifting prices higher," Bart Melek at BMO Nesbitt Burns said.
In recent weeks, low US gasoline stocks have been a major cause of record crude prices, together with tensions in key oil producer Nigeria alongside Iran. Strong global energy demand has also been a factor.
New York crude hit 75.35 dollars a barrel on Monday -- matching a record level struck last Friday. Brent crude, meanwhile, reached a historic peak of 74.79 dollars last Friday.
ElBaradei's report said the IAEA had taken samples on April 13 at Iran's enrichment facility in Natanz "which tend to confirm as of that date the enrichment level ... declared by Iran".
The report added that Iran has failed to fully cooperate with UN inspectors trying to determine if its nuclear programme is peaceful or weapons-related.
ElBaradei noted that his agency was further unable to rule out that Iran may have received plutonium, which is an atomic weapons material, from abroad.
Analysts fear that Iran -- the second-biggest member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries after kingpin Saudi Arabia -- could respond to any UN sanctions by curtailing its exports.
The Islamic republic produces four million barrels of crude per day, around half of which it exports.
"This issue is likely to continue preying on market minds" and should keep prices high, Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish said.
AFP 28 04 06 2015 GMT
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