Oil Prices Climbed Past $71
Oil prices climbed past $71 as violence continued unabated in Iraq, dashing some hopes that the death of a top al Qaeda leader would turn the tide for the country's struggling oil sector.
Light crude for July delivery rose 90 cents to $71.25 a barrel, trimming this week's losses of around 3 percent.
Prices fell sharply on Thursday after US aircraft killed al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, raising some hope for an improvement in security.
Yesterday's move was totally overdone. We can't assume the destruction going on in Iraq is done by just one person.
Iraq's oil minister Hussain al-Shahristani told Reuters on Thursday that this would reduce violence and help improve Iraq's oil production.
Analysts warned however against reading too much into the killing of Zarqawi, who masterminded the deaths of hundreds in bombings, saying it would not end threats to an oil sector curtailed by decades of war and sanctions.
On the same day of Zarqawi's death, gunmen kidnapped a senior official of Iraq's oil ministry after he left work in Baghdad. Also, a string of bombs in Baghdad killed at least 31 people and wounded scores.
Prices also found support after tensions reignited between the West and Iran as Tehran launched a fresh round of uranium enrichment.
Iran launched a fresh round of uranium enrichment this week just as world powers offered it incentives to halt nuclear fuel work with the potential to produce atomic bombs.
Light crude for July delivery rose 90 cents to $71.25 a barrel, trimming this week's losses of around 3 percent.
Prices fell sharply on Thursday after US aircraft killed al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, raising some hope for an improvement in security.
Yesterday's move was totally overdone. We can't assume the destruction going on in Iraq is done by just one person.
Iraq's oil minister Hussain al-Shahristani told Reuters on Thursday that this would reduce violence and help improve Iraq's oil production.
Analysts warned however against reading too much into the killing of Zarqawi, who masterminded the deaths of hundreds in bombings, saying it would not end threats to an oil sector curtailed by decades of war and sanctions.
On the same day of Zarqawi's death, gunmen kidnapped a senior official of Iraq's oil ministry after he left work in Baghdad. Also, a string of bombs in Baghdad killed at least 31 people and wounded scores.
Prices also found support after tensions reignited between the West and Iran as Tehran launched a fresh round of uranium enrichment.
Iran launched a fresh round of uranium enrichment this week just as world powers offered it incentives to halt nuclear fuel work with the potential to produce atomic bombs.
posted by Ottawa Gas Prices | 7:43 AM
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