In the end, the environmental crisis is not an issue of technology,
economics or politics. It is a spiritual crisis, which requires a
spiritual solution that cannot be confined to a single tradition. We need
the wisdom of all the great civilizations of the world to help bring us
out of the crisis. 
  Rabbi Lawrence Troster
 
Oil climbs over $73 on worries over Iran flows
Mon Jun 5, 2006 12:23 AM ET
By Neil Chatterjee
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices climbed over $73 on Monday after Iran
hinted it might use oil production as a weapon in its nuclear dispute
with the West and hitches at U.S. refineries spurred worries over fuel
supplies.
U.S. light crude for July delivery traded 82 cents or 1.1 percent higher
at $73.15 a barrel by 0408 GMT, after a high of $73.55 and gains of $1.99
on Friday. London Brent crude rose 92 cents to $71.95 a barrel.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said if the United States
makes a "wrong move" over Iran, energy flows from the world's
fourth-largest exporter will be endangered.
"The gains are a combination of everything but most importantly it's
Iran," said broker John Brady from ABN AMRO in New York. "We've had mixed
messages before but it certainly stokes fears."
Tension between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear program have
helped drive oil's 20 percent rally this year.
Iranian officials have previously ruled out using oil as a weapon in
their nation's nuclear standoff with the West, but Khamenei's comments
suggested Iran could disrupt supplies if pushed.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reacted to his comments on
Sunday by counseling a wait-and-see approach.
Washington has offered to join European countries in talks with Iran
about the nuclear program, but says Iran must first suspend uranium
enrichment. Iran has so far rejected the demand, saying enrichment is a
national right.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday Iran will consider
proposals on incentives to stop nuclear work from the United States,
Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain but also insisted that the
crux of the package was unacceptable.
Oil prices were also boosted by production problems at U.S. refineries
during the start of peak summer fuel demand.
"We're in the driving season and the hurricane season, so we're in the
mode where the market seasonally trades higher," said Brady.
Oil product futures led gains on Monday, with gasoline up 1.2 percent at
$2.2246 a gallon while heating oil rallied 1.2 percent to $2.0376 a
gallon.
Three south Texas plants were restoring production on Sunday and
receiving tankers into Corpus Christi harbor as it reopened following an
oil spill, after urgent repairs and severe thunderstorms hurt production
at five U.S. plants.
The disruptions come at the start of what is expected to be another busy
storm season in the U.S. Gulf, where last year's hurricanes devastated
oil facilities and drove prices to record highs.
OPEC producers agreed last week to leave output limits unchanged and keep
pumping at near full rates in a bid to ease prices, which they worry will
spur inflation that could slow economic growth and sap oil demand.
In OPEC member Nigeria, kidnappers freed eight foreign oil workers on
Sunday, two days after they were seized in an unprecedented raid on an
exploration rig far offshore.
Attacks onshore or in shallow water are frequent in the Niger Delta, but
this showed that even deep offshore facilities are no longer safe. A
series of militant attacks have already cut a quarter of output from the
world's eight biggest crude exporter.
 
 
Dan Weiss
Senior Vice President
M+R Strategic Services
202-478-6307 office
[log in to unmask]
 

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