Iran’s words slow oil prices

LONDON – Oil prices fell yesterday after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country would halt its uranium enrichment program and return to negotiations, but only if other Western nations do the same.

One day ahead of a UN Security Council deadline, Ahmadinejad said it was no problem for his country to stop, but that “fair talks” demanded a similar gesture from the West. On Dec.23 the Security Council agreed to impose limited sanctions against Iran and gave the country 60 days to halt enrichment or face additional measures.Despite Ahmadinejad’s more conciliatory tone, the conditions were likely to keep a floor under price declines.Light, sweet crude for March delivery, which was to expire later Tuesday, fell 36 cents to US$58,17 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe.On London’s ICE futures exchange, April Brent crude oil futures fell 28 cents to US$57,86 a barrel.Heating oil futures fell nearly two cents to US$1,6349 a gallon while natural gas prices dropped 4,9 cents to US$7,471 per 1 000 cubic feet.Traders were also watching for news after a weekend fire that caused the shutdown of a US refinery, and the kidnapping of three Eastern European oil workers in Nigeria.Nigerian police said Monday that gunmen had seized two Croatians and a Montenegrin who worked on oil platforms through a Croatian maritime company late Sunday in the southern oil region’s main city of Port Harcourt.Nampa-APOn Dec.23 the Security Council agreed to impose limited sanctions against Iran and gave the country 60 days to halt enrichment or face additional measures.Despite Ahmadinejad’s more conciliatory tone, the conditions were likely to keep a floor under price declines.Light, sweet crude for March delivery, which was to expire later Tuesday, fell 36 cents to US$58,17 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe.On London’s ICE futures exchange, April Brent crude oil futures fell 28 cents to US$57,86 a barrel.Heating oil futures fell nearly two cents to US$1,6349 a gallon while natural gas prices dropped 4,9 cents to US$7,471 per 1 000 cubic feet.Traders were also watching for news after a weekend fire that caused the shutdown of a US refinery, and the kidnapping of three Eastern European oil workers in Nigeria.Nigerian police said Monday that gunmen had seized two Croatians and a Montenegrin who worked on oil platforms through a Croatian maritime company late Sunday in the southern oil region’s main city of Port Harcourt.Nampa-AP