Oil above $84 as Iran sanctions threaten to restrict crude suppliesJuly 3, 2012 - 10:47 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Oil rose above $84 a barrel Tuesday, July 3 in Asia as tighter sanctions against Iran threaten to restrict crude supplies while demand holds up despite Europe's debt crisis, the Associated Press reports. Benchmark oil for August delivery was up 66 cents at $84.41 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.21 to close at $83.75 in New York on Monday. In London, Brent crude for August delivery was up 87 cents at $98.21 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. Crude plunged to $77 last week from $106 two months ago on expectations slowing growth in the U.S., Europe and China would reduce oil consumption. However, some analysts say investors have been too pessimistic about the global economy and, outside of Europe, crude demand has held up so far. "While much of the severe sell-off in crude oil prices in May and June has been driven by fear of what could happen to world oil demand, we have not witnessed a collapse in demand yet," Goldman Sachs said in a report. Traders are also closely watching the impact of tighter sanctions starting July 1 by the U.S. and Europe against Iran over the country's nuclear program. Iran, OPEC's second-biggest producer, is finding fewer countries willing to buy its crude, which could pinch global supplies. "U.S. and E.U. sanctions against Iran are now in effect, and look to have a greater impact than we had anticipated," said Goldman Sachs, which forecasts oil will surge to $115 within three months. "The loss in Iranian exports could soon rival the loss of Libyan crude oil supplies last year." In other energy trading, heating oil was up 2.2 cents at $2.70 per gallon while gasoline futures advanced 2.1 cents at $2.65 per gallon. Natural gas gained 0.9 cent at $2.83 per 1,000 cubic feet. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Government reveals details from Pashinyan’s meeting in border village Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with a group of residents of a border village in Armenia’s northern Tavush province Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. Pashinyan, Blinken talk Armenia-U.S. ties over the phone Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 28, Pashinyan’s office reports. |