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| Sunday, 3 October 2004 |
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Oil closes above 50 dollars NEW YORK, Oct 1 (AFP) Oil prices closed above 50 dollars a barrel for the first time in New York trading Friday, as traders fretted about Nigerian oil production amid a threatened rebel uprising. The New York Mercantile Exchange's light sweet crude November futures contract closed at 50.12 dollars a barrel, up 48 cents from Thursday's close. The crude market is nervous about any potential disruption to Nigerian oil production as the country exports much of its oil to the United States and is Africa's biggest exporter. "There are still concerns about Nigeria," said Refco oil analyst Marshall Steeves, referring to Friday's closing price spike. Unrest in Iraq has also driven prices up in recent weeks. Traders are holding their breath that the Nigerian government, in peace talks with rebels, will be able to stave off a threatened uprising by the rebels who said they would mount an all-out war on the government if their demands were not met. Asari's Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) has threatened oil installations and asked foreign oil workers to quit the region, it's one of the militias fighting for supremacy over control of the west African country's illegal oil trafficking. The group claims to be fighting for the rights of the ethnic Ijaws living around the centre of Nigeria's Niger delta oil industry, which turns out about 2.3 million barrels per day. |
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