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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Pipeline Attacks Cut Iraq's Oil Exports |
| 2004-06-16 |
| BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Insurgents stepped up their campaign against Iraq's infrastructure Tuesday, blasting two oil pipelines and cutting the country's oil exports. Gunmen also attacked a convoy of civilian contractors, killing some of them. Authorities curbed oil exports through the Persian Gulf by half - from an average of 1.85 million barrels per day to more than 800,000 barrels - after saboteurs blasted the two pipelines on the Faw peninsula of southern Iraq. The attacks sent temporary ripples through international petroleum markets, but crude futures ended lower. Contracts for U.S. light crude for July delivery rose as high as $38.40 during New York trading, before easing back to settle at $37.19 per barrel, down 40 cents. July contracts for Brent crude rose as high as $35.90 at one point before retreating to $35.29, down 20 cents in London. Iraqi officials told Dow Jones Newswires they expected to have the damage repaired within a few days. However, petroleum analyst Paul Horsnell, the head of energy research at Barclays Capital in London, said that as a result of the blasts, Iraq would probably fail to meet its export target of 2 million barrels a day for June. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 oopps i did not see you had already posted this one. Oil is the soft target the enemy knows can do some economic damage in both Iraq and Saudi Arabia and just as pump prices had started to drop some. |
| Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-06-16 1:30:59 AM |