Oil: sellers rush to strike deal

Press, 23 September 1987, Page 10

Oil: sellers rush to strike deal

NZPA Tokyo Middle East crude oil prices rose in Tokyo yesterday after the United States helicopter attack on an Iranian vessel fanned fears of further clashes between the United States, and Iran and the threat of a Gulf blockade. But buyers were reluctant to accept the 10c to 15c per barrel mark-up, which followed earlier price rises in the United States, while supplies remained plentiful. “Sellers rushed to strike a deal, seeing that this uptrend could be only temporary, while buyers later stepped aside,” one trader said. Sellers quoted the Mideast benchmark crude Dubai at $U517.15 a barrel for November loading,

but buyers refused to offer more than about $16.95, traders said.

"News from the Gulf worked as a bullish factor but the market focused more on the fundamentals. Reports of O.P.E.C. efforts to slash output has not had an actual impact on prices yet,” said another trader.

Japan’s Foreign Minister, Tadashi Kuranari, said on Monday that his country, heavily reliant on Gulf oil, was trying to foster peace between Iran and Iraq. “We are making efforts from a fair and impartial position to create a better environment for peace in that conflict,” Mr Kuranari told reporters in Amman before boarding a flight for New York.