Crude prices rose on Friday, despite briefly falling under US$70 in New York, as traders turned their focus to Iran's budding nuclear ambitions which have already triggered international angst.
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, closed up US$1.08 at US$71.14 per barrel. The contract had earlier dipped to US$69.60, however.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for October delivery settled up US$0.72 at US$72.30 per barrel.
PHOTO: EPA
Prices fell beneath US$70 in a "continued reaction to the signs of an economic slowdown in the United States," Societe Generale analyst Deborah White said.
Recent US economic data has suggested the world's largest economy is cooling, particularly as economic growth slowed to 2.5 percent in the second quarter from a sizzling 5.6 percent clip in the first quarter.
Crude futures saw steep losses this week after a series of other economic reports appear to confirm a moderation in the US economy.
That dampens prospects for crude demand because the US is also the biggest consumer of energy in the world.
The second-biggest energy consumer, China, also rattled the market on Friday when it hiked interest rates.
The news "highlighted the fact that China was attempting to slow down its economy," which could impact on global oil demand, White added.
However, crude futures remained supported on Friday by the Iranian nuclear energy crisis, traders said.
Iran, the world's fourth biggest crude oil producer, has until Aug. 31 to halt its uranium enrichment program or face the threat of UN sanctions.
"Crude futures were higher [on Friday], recovering slightly after falling for last few days amid renewed concerns over Iran," Sucden analyst Michael Davies said.
The US will move quickly for UN Security Council action on sanctions against Iran if Tehran refuses to halt uranium enrichment by month's end, US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said on Thursday.
Oil market watchers are concerned that possible sanctions against Iran may lead to severe disruption to global supplies of energy.
"Next Tuesday, Iran is expected to respond to the incentive package. If Iran refuses the offer, wed anticipate this to be bullish for crude next week," said Bill O'Grady, an AG Edwards analyst.
Prices had begun falling on Monday after a ceasefire went into effect between Israel and the Shiite militia Hezbollah, ending a month of violence and easing fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.
Added to the picture, the market was calmed by news that BP would continue pumping half of output at the Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska, which normally makes up 8 percent of total US production. The company announced a pipeline leak there on Aug. 6 and began halting operations.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”