Crude Oil Rises to Record on Turkey-Iraq Tensions, Nigeria

Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil rose to a record above $92.50 a barrel in New York after Turkey’s Foreign Minister said his government is considering “all options” including military action to deal with Kurdish rebels operating from Iraq.

“Our patience has come to an end,” Ali Babacan said yesterday in Tehran following talks with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki. In Nigeria, Italy’s Eni SpA said armed men seized six of its workers in an attack on a supply ship, heightening concerns about potential supply disruptions.


“There are still negotiations involving Turkey, the U.S. and Iraq,” said David Moore, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. “There are also reports of the seizure of a number of oil workers in Nigeria. At a time when everything is going right for the oil price this can only add fuel to the fire.”

Crude oil for December delivery rose as much as 54 cents, or 0.6 percent, to an all-time high in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract was at $92.35 at 6:53 a.m. Singapore time.

On Oct. 26 the contract gained $1.40, or 1.6 percent, to settle at a record $91.86 a barrel after reaching $92.22 earlier in the session, the previous record high. The December contract rose 5.6 percent last week. Oil is up 58 percent from a year ago.

Bloomberg