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London: Oil resumed its climb away from $61 yesterday as world powers prepared to discuss tightening UN sanctions on Iran, the world's fourth biggest oil exporter.
US crude was up 28 cents at $61.42 a barrel by 1025 GMT. The market has recorded a higher closing level for the past three sessions and hit a 2007 high of $61.80 on Friday.
London Brent was up 45 cents at $61.33.
Some analysts see a building upward momentum for oil and note the latest data from the New York Mercantile Exchange points to an increase in investment by large funds.
"It is the first time this year that the large speculative funds are showing a net long position in crude oil," said Olivier Jakob, an analyst at Swiss-based Petromatrix.
Key factor
Oil prices have swung from a high of $78.40 last July, when fighting flared in Lebanon, and a 20-month low of $49.90 in January when an expected influx of fund money failed to materialise, disappointing oil investors.
A steady recovery in prices since late January has been supported by gradually tightening supplies - Opec has twice cut output since November -and by concerns over a possible disruption of Iran's oil supplies.
Officials from the UN Security Council plus Germany met in London late last night to consider possible further steps after the latest UN deadline for Tehran to halt its nuclear programme came and went unheeded.
"Iran is a key factor for oil prices recovering from just below $50. However, it is a psychological factor and many market players are sceptical at the same time," said Tetsu Emori, the chief strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures.
"Iranian oil supplies weren't disrupted last year although this issue was discussed many times."
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