Oil prices rise above $68 per barrel

01/30/06 - newratings.com

LONDON, January 30 (newratings.com) – Oil prices Monday rose on fears of shipment disruptions from Iran and Nigeria.

Iran, which is the OPEC’s (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) second-largest producer, is in the midst of a dispute with the US and Europe regarding its decision to restart research on uranium reprocessing. The US, the UK and Germany have been pressing for the United Nations Security Council to address Iran’s decision to restart research on uranium reprocessing, which could lead to sanctions. The United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency is scheduled to hold an emergency session on Thursday this week at which the agency could decide to send Iran to the UN Security Council. Meanwhile, militants have been increasingly targeting Nigeria’s oil facilities.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which accounts for more than a third of the world's oil production, is widely expected not to announce any output cuts at its meeting scheduled for January 31. The OPEC has kept its output at near a 25-year high in the face of rising demand and production cuts from non-OPEC nations.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose 45¢ to $68.21 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in Asian electronic trading. The contract rose $1.50 to close at $67.76 per barrel on Friday.