Oil at record high above $86 in Asia
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
SINGAPORE, Oct 16 (AFP): Crude oil prices surged to fresh records above 86 dollars per barrel in Asia today amid fears of supply disruption due to rising tension between Turkey and Kurdish rebels in neighbouring Iraq.
In afternoon trade New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, was trading at 86.75 dollars per barrel, 62 cents higher than in late New York trades Monday.
Brent North Sea crude also hit a record, spiking above 83 dollars for the time. The contract for November delivery was 51 cents higher at a fresh record of 83.26 dollars, after jumping 2.20 dollars to 82.75 dollars in London Monday.
Brent's previous record of 81.05 dollars was hit late last month, while New York crude has now surpassed its former all-time peak of 84.10 dollars reached during intra-day trade in September.
Turkey moved a step closer Monday to a possible incursion into northern Iraq as the government sought parliament's approval for military action against Kurdish rebel bases, despite US opposition.
The army said at the weekend that it had shelled Iraqi territory after PKK rebels attacked a Turkish military outpost with rockets and gunfire from across the border.
"The market's really trying to nail down here how much oil's potentially affected by this," said Tobin Gorey, a commodities strategist with Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.
Many of Iraq's largest oil fields are located in the north of the country.
Jason Feer, Asia-Pacific vice-president of energy market analysts Argus Media in Singapore, said many people "had tended to discount Iraq" as an oil player but the latest developments showed it was still vital to the markets.
Adrian Bingham-Walker of CMC Markets said during US trading that the tensions on the Turkish-Iraqi border "have really pushed the price up."
But they should eventually fall back, Macquarie Research Equities analyst David Johnson said from Hong Kong.
On Monday, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) maintained its estimate for world oil demand growth in 2007. Its October monthly report said demand growth is forecast at 1.3 million barrels per day or 1.5 per cent.
Analysts have said the forces pushing up prices show no signs of easing, with 100-dollar-per-barrel oil possible in 2008.
In afternoon trade New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, was trading at 86.75 dollars per barrel, 62 cents higher than in late New York trades Monday.
Brent North Sea crude also hit a record, spiking above 83 dollars for the time. The contract for November delivery was 51 cents higher at a fresh record of 83.26 dollars, after jumping 2.20 dollars to 82.75 dollars in London Monday.
Brent's previous record of 81.05 dollars was hit late last month, while New York crude has now surpassed its former all-time peak of 84.10 dollars reached during intra-day trade in September.
Turkey moved a step closer Monday to a possible incursion into northern Iraq as the government sought parliament's approval for military action against Kurdish rebel bases, despite US opposition.
The army said at the weekend that it had shelled Iraqi territory after PKK rebels attacked a Turkish military outpost with rockets and gunfire from across the border.
"The market's really trying to nail down here how much oil's potentially affected by this," said Tobin Gorey, a commodities strategist with Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.
Many of Iraq's largest oil fields are located in the north of the country.
Jason Feer, Asia-Pacific vice-president of energy market analysts Argus Media in Singapore, said many people "had tended to discount Iraq" as an oil player but the latest developments showed it was still vital to the markets.
Adrian Bingham-Walker of CMC Markets said during US trading that the tensions on the Turkish-Iraqi border "have really pushed the price up."
But they should eventually fall back, Macquarie Research Equities analyst David Johnson said from Hong Kong.
On Monday, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) maintained its estimate for world oil demand growth in 2007. Its October monthly report said demand growth is forecast at 1.3 million barrels per day or 1.5 per cent.
Analysts have said the forces pushing up prices show no signs of easing, with 100-dollar-per-barrel oil possible in 2008.