Iran Wants Oil Above US$70 a Barrel

Iran thinks oil prices should rise above $70 a barrel due to winter weather in the Northern Hemisphere.

I don't ever remember oil prices going over $70 a barrel just because winter was coming to the Northern Hemisphere before!

SOURCE

Oil prices should climb back above US$70 (HK$546) a barrel as a result of winter weather in the northern hemisphere and OPEC output decisions, a senior Iranian oil official said Sunday.
"The oil price in the world market has been more than [US]$70 per barrel in the past, but considering the fact that we are approaching winter and demand is increasing, this price could be higher," said Gholamhossein Nozari, managing director of state oil company NIOC.

"We are trying to increase the current oil price through controlling the market," the official IRNA news agency said.

OPEC president Edmund Daukoru has said he favors a cut in production, deepening a cut of 1.2 million barrels per day agreed in October.

Iran's OPEC governor, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, said OPEC ministers need to take into account ample US oil stockpiles, the weakening dollar, slower-than- expected world economic growth and forecasts of strong non-OPEC oil production growth.

"OPEC will make appropriate decisions by having these realities in mind," he said on the fringe of an energy conference in Teheran Sunday.

So, it looks like gas prices around $3.00 a gallon are again in the future.

Since the 1970's opec has never been able to control the price of oil....They try to give the apprerance they can but they cant.

The 1970's oil shock was a supply problem, the run up in price over the last few years was actually a result of demand i.e. economic growth in china and India.
The war in Iraq has added a so called terror premium to the price of oil.....estimates very as to what the terror premium actually is but suffice to say its anywhere from $5-$15 a barrel.

The world is awash in oil right now....storage levels are at decade highs.

However, none of this means that oil cant go higher...a terrorist attack or war with Iran could easily send oil over $100 a barrel. Also the long term trend in price is up.

I think the bottom line as far as Iran is concerned is that higher oil prices enable them to continue funding terrorist and buying expensive military hardware from Russia and china so its in their best interest to talk up the price of oil.

Winter is the excuse to achive their objective.

[edit on 12-12-2006 by etshrtslr]

Interesting post ET - but as it stands the U.S. doesn't purchase Iran oil.

I think this is more about Iran puffing it's chest than anything else.

What winter weather?

The NE U.S. and Europe both have had a very mild winter so far. If anything the price of oil is dropping due to the weather.

$70 Dollars a barrel is what the Rand Corp. suggests is necessary for the US to build the infrastructure to tap their near 1,500 billion barrels of oil in the oil shales.

Personally I think the more the West has their respective navies in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman the cheaper oil will get. The US is tired of hearing about Iran and Iran is going to get shut up one way or another in 2007. I predict gas below 2 bucks a gallon in California in 2007.