Light oil price trading back over $80 on Iran, markets

US Light oil price is trading above $80 in Asia on Monday as stock markets climb and a statment from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had a positive effect on oil prices.

On the NYMEX, Light crude oil futures for delivery in April traded at $80.14 a barrel at 0635 GMT, up 48 cents in the Globex electronic session, after rising to as high as $80.61 a barrel earlier.

Crude prices were boosted by comments from Iran over the weekend that European energy supplies could be vulnerable to disruptions if Iran sees fit to create them.

The deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was quoted as saying Sunday that Iran sits “on 50% of the world’s energy” and if the Islamic republic decides so, “Europe will be living the winter in the cold.”

Separately, Iran’s Supreme Leader is criticising the IAEA and Western countries for saying his country’s nuclear ambitions are not entirely peaceful.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blasted the United States and other Western countries, branding them “hegemonistic powers,” and vowing that Iran “would not submit to their will.” He also slammed the International Atomic Energy Agency for “not acting independently,” especially with regard to its recent report on Iran’s nuclear program.

“There’s always a risk that tensions in the Middle East can have a real impact on the supply of oil and oil’s gains this morning are largely a knee-jerk reaction to Iran’s comments,” said Toby Hassall, chief commodities analyst at CWA Global Markets Pty Ltd.

“But the market needs to consider those comments in the context of the underlying fundamentals, where there is now spare capacity, so I think it’s a bit early to be concerned about supply disruptions.”

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Light oil price trading back over $80 on Iran, markets

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