Oil prices rose above US$126 in Asian trade yesterday amid fresh worries about Iran’s disputed nuclear program and a new storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, dealers said.
In afternoon trade, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery next month, jumped US$0.96 to US$126.06 a barrel from its close of US$125.10 on Friday. Brent North Sea crude for delivery next month was up US$1 at US$125.18.
“It’s Iran again ... the Iranian issue remains fluid and it looks like more sanctions will be imposed by the world powers and they will likely raise tensions over Iran,” said Victor Shum, a Singapore-based analyst at Purvin and Gertz.
Iran is the fourth largest crude oil producer in the world and traders fear supply disruptions from the Islamic republic if tensions between Tehran and the West heighten over its controversial nuclear program.
Tensions over Iran’s nuclear program pushed oil prices to above US$147 last month.
Meanwhile, a new storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, where key US energy facilities are located, is adding to supply jitters, dealers said.
Tropical Storm Edouard is expected to be very near the southwestern coast of Louisiana and the upper Texas coast by late today.
“Some reports are saying much of the US offshore oil production facilities are in the likely path of the storm but it is a little too early to say what the direction of the storm is going to be,” Shum said.
Nigeria, a key crude producer, is also fueling supply concerns as local police and French officials confirmed on Sunday two French nationals were kidnapped in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.
Violence in the southern region has reduced Nigeria’s total oil production by a quarter since January 2006.
Nigeria was Africa’s largest oil producer until it was overtaken in April by Angola, OPEC data showed.
In related news, Global Energy Development PLC, a UK-based explorer in Latin America, found oil during a test at the Tilodiran 3 well in the Colombian Rio Verde contract.
The well was drilled to a depth of about 4,000m and oil from the so-called Ubaque formation flowed at 322 barrels a day, the London-based company said in a statement distributed by the Regulatory News Service yesterday.
The company said it would test two other formations in the well over the next week.
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole
RSS