Oil breaches US$91 in Asian trade
Posted: 26 October 2007 0954 hrs
SINGAPORE - Oil briefly topped US$91 in Asian trade Friday on
rising tensions in the Middle East following Turkey's military
threat against Kurdish rebels in Iraq and new US sanctions on Iran,
dealers said.
At 10:00 am (0200 GMT) New York's main futures contract, light
sweet crude for delivery in December, was up 42 cents to US$90.88 a
barrel from its close of US$90.46 in late US trades.
It earlier touched a new all-time intra-day high of US$91.10, they
said.
Brent North Sea crude for December was up 52 cents to US$88, also
breaking records set in London overnight.
Oil prices are "being supported by an increase in geopolitical
tensions and also market developments," Australia's Commonwealth
Bank said in a market commentary.
"The US has announced that it is imposing new sanctions on Iran,"
it said. "Oil markets also continued to have an eye on developments
related to the current tensions between Turkey and Kurd rebels in
Iraq," it said.
On Thursday, Turkish leaders lent extra weight to their threat of a
military incursion against Kurdish separatists holed up in northern
Iraq.
Many of Iraq's oilfields are located in the north and any conflict
with Turkey could disrupt supplies, analysts said.
Commonwealth Bank said the market was also reacting to a sharp
decline in US energy inventories last week which came ahead of the
northern hemisphere winter, when demand for heating fuel
peaks.
US energy supplies are closely monitored because the United States
is the world's biggest energy consumer. - AFP/ir
