Oil spirals on new Iraq sabotage
FEARS of rocketing petrol prices resurfaced today as the cost of crude oil soared. The price of a barrel of North Sea Brent powered towards $30 a barrel after saboteurs blew up a key Iraqi oil pipeline for the second time.
Gun battles between rival ethnic militias in the Nigerian oil city of Warri were also blamed for driving prices higher.
As dealers fretted about dwindling oil supplies at a time of high demand for motorists, Brent crude rose 33 cents to $29.14 a barrel.
Supermarkets and filling stations took between 1p and 2p off a litre of unleaded petrol at the end of the Iraq war. The latest oil price rise, however, has sparked fears that forecourt increases could be on the cards again.
Rob Laughlin, oil analyst at broker GNI Man Financial said: ' I think we will certainly test $30 again.'
Brent topped $30 last week on news of low US energy stockpiles.
Fire engulfed a section of the newly-reopened pipeline between Kirkut, which produces 40% of Iraq's oil, and the Turkish port of Ceyhan, forcing it to close again for repairs that officials warn could take weeks.
US governor of Iraq Paul Bremer has warned that continuing sabotage attacks on Iraq's infrastructure will hit the country's economic recovery. He said the attack on the oil pipeline would cost Iraq $7m (£4.4m) a day.
In Nigeria, the latest outbreak of violence has cast doubt on plans to resume full crude oil output in one of the world's top exporters. The violence is the most serious since March, when an ethnic Ijaw rebellion forced oil companies to evacuate key installations and shut down 40% of the country's oil output.
