|
LONDON: Oil prices pulled lower on Monday but
remained at elevated levels after a long US holiday weekend, as
traders mulled an offer from crude producer Iran to hold talks on
its nuclear drive.
Brent North Sea oil for August
delivery slid 17 cents to $144.25 a barrel in electronic deals. That
was not far off the record-high $146.69 that was struck last
Thursday.
New York’s main oil contract,
light sweet crude for August delivery, shed $1.66 to $143.63 also on
Monday. The contract had punched a lifetime high of $145.85 on July
3.
US floor trading was shut last
Friday but electronic trade continued amid the Independence Day
holiday.
Oil blazed a record-breaking
trail last week, driven by geopolitical tensions over Iran, the weak
US dollar and tightening global supplies, traders said.
Sky-high oil prices—which ramp
up the cost of petrol, jet fuel and domestic electricity and
gas—have triggered fears about higher inflation and slower
economic growth. They have also sparked protests around the world.
Over the weekend, Iran offered to
negotiate on its nuclear drive but without a freeze on uranium
enrichment, in its first comments since responding to an
international package aimed at ending the standoff.
Javier Solana, the foreign-policy
chief of the European Union said also on Monday that he hoped to
meet later this month with Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, after
Tehran gave its response to a package of incentives to halt uranium
enrichment.
“There is some kind of relaxing
on the part of Iran,” said Tony Nunan, a manager with Mitsubishi
Corp’s international petroleum business in Tokyo.
“So any kind of reduction in
tension there will take some of the price pressure off,” he added.
Iran is locked in a standoff with
the West over its nuclear-energy program. The Islamic republic
claims it is for generating electricity while Western nations fear
the development of nuclear weapons.
Elsewhere, the United States and
Japan called on Sunday for urgent action on red-hot oil and food
prices that could derail the global economy.
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo
Fukuda said he and US President George W. Bush agreed on the need
for urgent efforts to tackle the issue. Both are attending the G8
summit, which began in Japan earlier on Monday.
--AFP
|
