World oil prices briefly fell [1] in response to the 7-7 attacks in London, but now they are once again soaring to unprecedented heights. Reports Reuters [2] Friday Aug 12:
Crude oil prices raced to record highs, touching $67 a barrel Friday as investors fretted over the world's strained capacity to refine and pump crude oil. The continued rise in oil prices was a major factor weighing on U.S. stocks. (Related: Stock market drops [3].)
Light sweet crude for September delivery gained $1.06 to settle at $66.86 a barrel Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange — the highest close since Nymex trading began in 1983...
U.S. oil has risen 51% since the start of the year, and the stage could be set for further gains, with no let-up seen in global demand... Analysts expect September contracts to test the $70 a barrel threshold.
Reuters also notes that "prices would need to surpass $90 a barrel to exceed the inflation-adjusted peak set in 1980." Not mentioned is that the 1979-80 oil shock was a direct result of the Iranian revolution. Today's spike also comes as Iran is rumbling about an embargo. On Aug. 14, the Tehran Times [4] runs an editorial, "Oil embargo best response to nuclear boycott," stating that Iran should exploit the global oil jitters to retaliate against the International Atomic Energy Agency resolution condemning its resumption of uranium enrichment operations. The editorial says the resolution violates the terms of the Non-Proliferation Treaty by denying Iran peaceful pursuit of atomic energy, and "was ratified to meet the objectives of the Zionist regime and the United States." It concludes:
The continuation of the unequal relationship between Third World countries, particularly Muslim countries, and the U.S. and other Western countries, which have adopted an unfair attitude, will never benefit the countries of the global South.
Therefore, the oil-rich countries, including Iran, which possess the most significant pressure lever, should wisely use this tool to punish the Western neocolonialist countries.
Oil is the lifeline of the West, and most of the West’s military industries are dependent on it. Therefore, it is the most potent economic weapon for settling scores with neocolonialist countries.
[...]
Iran is a country with great potential to respond to Western meddling.
Therefore, after consulting with some OPEC countries, Iran should propose plans to confront the hegemonistic actions of the West.
Islamic countries must unite and formulate a political strategy to respond to Western neocolonialist countries, since the efforts to prevent Iran from accessing nuclear technology are the first step in the plan to prevent other Islamic and Third World countries from developing this vital technology.
See our last post on the global oil crisis [5], and Iran's nuclear program [6].
