What will Mordecai do when he hears about this: April 16, 1998
Oil Prices Surge As Iraq Warns of a 'Future Crisis'
An INTERACTIVE JOURNAL News Roundup
Crude oil prices rallied Thursday after Iraq warned of a new crisis with the
United Nations if talks aimed at lifting economic sanctions do not begin by
the end of April.
The U.N. Security Council is expected to meet the last week in April to
review the sanctions it imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
The April discussions should begin the process of lifting the sanctions
"immediately and without delay," the ruling Revolution Command Council
said. The statement was released after a meeting chaired by President
Saddam Hussein.
Iraq warned that those who oppose the "lifting of the sanctions would bear
the responsibility for the future crisis and what comes to hurt our people."
The statement did not elaborate.
Iraq has repeatedly demanded an end to the U.N. sanctions, which have
caused widespread poverty and suffering. The Security Council has said it
will not consider lifting the sanctions until Iraq fully cooperates with U.N.
arms monitors.
Iraq's statement adds to a market already
skittish over recent refinery outages, said
Richard Redash, vice president of energy
futures research at Prudential Securities Inc.
Still, he said, threats from Iraq are nothing
new.
"In general, I'm skeptical," said Mr. Redash. "In the short term this is
obviously going to raise the market. But am I excited about it? The market
is familiar with Saddam's threats and the lack of follow-through on many of
his threats."
Late last year, Baghdad barred the weapons inspectors from entering
presidential palaces, saying they were symbols of national sovereignty. The
U.S. and Britain demanded full access for the arms monitors and
threatened air strikes if Baghdad did not cooperate.
Tensions fell after a Feb. 23 agreement between Iraq and U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan to allow palace inspections by arms teams
accompanied by diplomats.
In other news, an Iranian official said Iran will largely halt spot sales for the
rest of 1998, as part of the March agreement by the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers to reduce
output.
"It's another indication that producers are committed to their
output-reduction pledges, and that's supportive," said Victor Yu, an
energy analyst with Refco Inc.
In late morning trading on the Nymex, May crude oil rose 45 cents to
$15.91 a barrel, while June crude oil gained 41 cents to $16.23 a barrel.
May unleaded gasoline rose 1.20 cents to 52.65 cents a gallon, while May
heating oil rose 0.58 cent to 44.20 cents a gallon. May natural gas gained
2.90 cents to $2.550 per million BTUs. |
