World oil prices hovered on Tuesday close to record high levels as concerns about supply disruptions lingered in the wake of a decision by Iraq to cease pumping crude from its southern oil fields.
Brent North Sea crude oil for September fell 27 cents to $41,29 per barrel in early afternoon trading in London, below Monday’s record high closing level of $41,56.
New York’s light, sweet crude for September delivery lost 24 cents to $44,60 in pre-opening electronic trading after closing at the record high level of $44,84 on Monday.
In Asian trading earlier on Tuesday, the September contract had touched a high of $44,99 per barrel, topping the record intra-day high of $44,98 per barrel set during New York trading the previous day.
”Iraq remains the news that the market is focusing on,” Prudential Bache trader Tony Machacek said.
Limited amounts of oil were being loaded on Tuesday from Iraq’s southern export terminals, one day after pumping of crude was stopped due to a threatened attack by a Shi’ite Muslim militia.
At the Basra terminal, exports were down to an average of 35 000 barrels per hour from a previous average of 80 000 barrels, said an official at the terminal on condition of anonymity.
One tanker vessel was seen loading up at the terminal. Iraq’s southern oilfields have been the only source of exports since an attack on a key pipeline artery halted limited exports from the main northern oil fields last week.
Exports from the southern oilfields around Basra have been running at up to 1,7 million barrels per day but have suffered periodic disruption in recent months, at least some of it the result of sabotage attacks.
Meanwhile on the trading floors in London, dealers were paying close attention to developments at Russian oil titan Yukos and in Venezuela ahead of Sunday’s referendum there which the opposition hopes will unseat controversial President Hugo Chavez.
”The referendum in Venezuela is another important news development that needs to be monitored,” Machacek said.
There are fears of crippling strike action in the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter should the outcome of the referendum be disputed.
The Yukos saga continued to make headlines. The Russian justice ministry said on Monday that its bailiffs had re-frozen the shares in the most vital subsidiary of Yukos, Yuganskneftegaz (Yugansk).
This business accounts for about 60% of the oil produced by Yukos and its future is critical for the survival of Russia’s largest oil company, which faces a $3,4-billion tax bill for 2000.
”To be honest, the headlines on this issue are very confusing and nobody seems to know exactly what this actually means for Yukos and if this will actually affect supply from Russia or not,” Machacek said. – Sapa-AFP