Oil prices fell again yesterday as the timetable for a war in Iraq appeared to get pushed back with Baghdad complying with UN demands to destroy illegal missiles, while Turkey rejected hosting US troops on its soil.
US light crude fell US$0.50 to US$36.10 a barrel, extending Friday's US$0.60 loss in New York.
"The pendulum of market sentiment appears to be focused on a delay to a military strike, which will erode the war premium," said Sydney-based independent oil analyst Simon Games-Thomas.
"Without the war factor and against a backdrop of low inventory and the loss of Venezuelan production, a fair value for crude is somewhere in the region of US$30 to US$32."
Crude has fallen sharply after touching US$39.99 on Feb. 27, which was just short of a US$41.15 record struck in October 1990 in the build up to the Gulf War.
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