Iraqi Pipeline Explosion Pushes Oil Above $107
Written by admin on March 27th, 2008 in Commodities, Currencies, Trading, World Markets.
Oil jumped above $107 a barrel today after the continued conflict in Iraq led to saboteurs blowing up one of the countries two major export pipelines. The attack came amid the third day of Iraqi military operations, targeted towards loyal fighters of the Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the town of Basra in the southern Iraq.
The explosion marked the first time since 2004 that the southern Iraqi supply route has been disrupted.
“Crude exports will be greatly affected because this is one of two main pipelines transporting crude to the southern terminals, we will lose about a third of crude exported through Basra,” - Oil Company official
In last Friday’s trading a commodities sell off saw oil take a sharp fall to below $100 a barrel, after record highs of $111.80 seen last earlier in the week, but todays rise is a further extension on the $4 gains made yesterday after a report showed lower than expected petrol stocks in the US.
US crude was up 43 cents to $106.33 this afternoon, after peaking at $107.70 earlier in the day. Any gains that were to come on the back of increasing conflict in Iraq were limited by a strengthening dollar which also showed gains after the FED eased recession worries.
The dollar gains were also backed by figures released which showed US jobless benefit claims fell by 9,000, with the greenback managing to regain some lost ground. In early trading it saw a rise of 0.6% to %1.5757 against the euro and a rise of 0.9% against the Yen.
