[Peakoil] oil still going up...

[Jenny Goldie]

Oil rises above $US71
From: Agence France-Presse 
>From correspondents in New York

April 18, 2006 

OIL prices broke new ground above $US71 a barrel today on mounting tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions and rapid economic growth in China, dealers said.

Brent North Sea crude closed at $US71.46 a barrel. 
That was up 89 cents from Friday's closing level in London, and just off a new high reached overnight of $US71.62. 

In New York, light sweet crude for May delivery surged $US1.08 from Friday to close at $US70.40 a barrel, testing levels not seen since last summer. 

The New York and London markets were closed for the Good Friday holiday. 

Crude prices had last set a record in New York of $US70.85 on August 30, after Hurricane Katrina hammered oil production facilities in the US Gulf of Mexico region.   

Fimat analyst Mike Fitzpatrick said news that China's economy grew at a blistering pace of 10.2 per cent in the first quarter confirmed for many "that overall global energy demand is set to remain strong". 
Also, he said, a suicide bomb attack in Israel which killed nine people in Tel Aviv had fomented tensions in the Middle East. 

Responsibility for the blast was claimed by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad. Hamas, which recently formed a new Palestinian government, laid the blame at Israel's door for its "aggression." 

Iran warned Washington on Sunday against attacking its nuclear facilities, saying it had tens of thousands of would-be suicide bombers at the ready and could count on the support of militants across the region. 

"The oil market is taking the threat seriously as Iran may have gone down the path that leads to the point of no return," Alaron Trading analyst Phil Flynn. 

Traders worry that US-led military action would disrupt vital oil supplies from Iran, which is the world's fourth-largest producer of crude with an output of four million barrels per day.
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