By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Jan. 27 -- Oil futures prices soared on New York and London markets Friday upon rising jitters between the US and Iraq about a possible war in Iraq and also upon lingering concerns about Venezuela's national strike as well as world oil supplies.
United Nations inspectors have searched Iraq for 2 months looking for evidence of banned weapons of mass destruction. Chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix was scheduled Monday to present his findings to the UN Security Council.
Iraq was expected to be a main topic in the State of the Union address that US President George W. Bush will deliver Tuesday.
On Friday, a US military spokesman said that the military plans to quickly take control of Iraq's oil fields if war ensures, saying President Saddam Hussein plans to try to destroy his own country's oil wells just as he attempted to destroy Kuwait's oil wells in 1991.
A senior US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told a Pentagon briefing that "intelligence sources" indicate that Saddam intends to target the oil fields. The official did not elaborate on the intelligence information.
Meanwhile, Qatari Energy and Industry Minister Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, current OPEC conference president, said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries always has acted rationally to stabilize oil markets, OPEC News Agency reported.
"Despite all the problems that OPEC has faced, it has always managed to overcome them and helped restore a balance between supply and demand in order to maintain stability of oil prices in the international oil market," he told reporters Monday while attending a World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
The March contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes soared by $1.03 to $33.28/bbl Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the April position gained 77¢ to $32.16/bbl. Heating oil for February delivery gained 3.49¢ to 95.02¢/gal. Unleaded gasoline for the same month rose 2.44¢ to 92.25¢/gal.
The February natural gas gained 6.6¢ to $5.52/Mcf Friday as cold weather covered most of the US east of the Rocky Mountains. Uncertainty regarding weather forecasts kept natural gas prices high last week, said analysts at Enerfax Daily. The February natural gas contract expires Wednesday.
In London, the March contract for North Sea Brent crude also rose sharply, gaining 77¢ to $30.49/bbl on the International Petroleum Exchange. The February natural gas contract climbed as well, up 11.65¢ to the equivalent of $3.07/Mcf on IPE.
The average price for OPEC's basket of seven benchmark crudes gained 38¢ Friday to $30.56/bbl.
