Brent oil price hovers near $114 as investors mull situation over Iran and strait

Brent oil futures continue to hold firm near $114 a barrel this afternoon as investors and oil traders mull over the situation over Iran’s threat to close off the Strait of Hormuz that are raising tensions between Iran and the West.

Latest Brent Oil Price

In London, Brent crude oil futures for February 2012 delivery was trading at $113.88 a barrel, 14.07 GMT today on the ICE Futures Exchange.

Iran’s Sanctions

Iran’s reaction to economic sanctions imposed over the weekend and better than expected economic data pushed oil prices higher yesterday and kept a floor under oil prices in Wednesday’s session, analysts said.

Iran on Thursday played down the impact of new Western sanctions targeting its vital oil sector, after European diplomats said they have reached preliminary agreement on an EU oil ban from the Islamic republic.

The National Iranian Oil Company said demand was so high for Iranian oil that it would have no trouble selling it elsewhere.

“We hope that Iran’s oil is not sanctioned officially but if so we have taken the needed arrangements,” the company’s director of international affairs, Mohsen Qamsari, was quoted as saying in a report on Iran’s oil ministry website.

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Brent oil price hovers near $114 as investors mull situation over Iran and strait