Petrol Stop - Oil tops 80 dollars a barrel in Asian trade

Oil tops 80 dollars a barrel in Asian trade

Sunday, 21 February 2010

22 Feb 2010;economictimes.indiatimes.com:SINGAPORE: Oil topped 80 dollars a barrel in Asian trade Monday as a strike at French energy giant Total and concerns over Iran's nuclear programme rattled the market, analysts said. New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, was up 63 cents at 80.44 dollars a barrel in morning trade. Brent North Sea crude for April delivery gained 61 cents to 78.80 dollars. "The sentiment is quite bullish at this time because of the refinery strikes in France and the concerns over Iran's nuclear issues," said Victor Shum, senior principal at Purvin and Gertz energy consultants in Singapore. A strike by workers of energy major Total entered its sixth day Monday. On Sunday, drivers on France rushed to fill their tanks ahead of the travel-intensive mid-term school holidays amid fears of petrol shortages. Total's management said Friday it had started gradually halting refining operations after unions announced an open-ended stoppage at all of its six French refineries, in protest at the closure of a plant in Dunkirk. Total supplies about half of France's filling stations. Tensions between crude-exporter Iran and the West over Tehran's alleged nuclear weapons ambitions also helped boost prices, analysts said. The US and other world powers are drumming up support for a fourth round of UN sanctions against Iran for its refusal to comply with repeated ultimatums to suspend uranium enrichment and agree to a UN-backed nuclear fuel deal. However, Shum warned that the rally might run out of steam due supply continuing to outstrip demand. "I think it is not sustainable at this level... there is still a lot of inventory and a lot of spare refining capacity," he said.