Oil up on missile fire and dollar’s fall

Herald Sun
Wednesday, July 9, 2008

CRUDE oil rose for the first time this week yesterday, rebounding from a big decline after Iran test-fired a long-range missile capable of reaching Israel and the dollar fell.

Crude oil for August delivery rose as much as $1.12, or 0.8 per cent, to $137.16 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

It traded at $136.83 at 3pm Singapore time. Yesterday, prices tumbled 3.8 per cent, the biggest decline since March 31.

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Futures reached a record $145.85 on July 3. Prices have surged 90 per cent in the past year.

Iran’s move comes a day after Ali Shirazi, an aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that the Middle Eastern nation would strike Israel and the US Navy in the Persian Gulf as a first response to any American attack on its nuclear program.

The US has accused Iran of uranium enrichment to develop nuclear weapons, while the Persian Gulf nation has said it’s for electricity production.

Iran has said it may blockade the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping lane for a fifth of the world’s crude, if its nuclear facilities are attacked. The country has the second-biggest proved oil reserves and is the second-biggest producer in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

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