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12 Jun 2014
Brent up on Iraq unrest
FXStreet (Barcelona) - Independent Analyst Malcolm Graham-Wood comments on yesterday's takeover of Iraq's city Mosul by Islamist militants, the gradual escalation of the situation since then and its effect on the oil markets.
Key quotes
“For Kurdistan I think that the situation is more straightforward than for the rest of Iraq, I am told that the rebels are unlikely to take on the Kurdish Peshmerga and that the KRG is much better prepared for any trouble than Maliki was.”
“In addition at a time when Baghdad is under threat what better way to remind the world that their oil has a pipeline export route through Turkey? Finally the Iraqi oil Minister at the Opec conference yesterday said that this trouble made an agreement with the KRG ‘more likely’.”
“So, the Opec meeting left output targets and quotas untouched as predicted although it did add the rider that the cartel would ‘take steps’ to ensure that the market remained stable at all times.”
“Brent rose during the Iraqi troubles and at one stage touched $110.40 during the day but drifted back to below the $110 level at the close.”
“WTI had other things on its mind viz the EIA inventory stats which showed a draw of 2.6m barrels which was around a million barrels more than forecast. Having said that, WTI which had also reached a high of $105.06 during the day, also failed to hold the high and fell back by 65 cents off the peak.”
Key quotes
“For Kurdistan I think that the situation is more straightforward than for the rest of Iraq, I am told that the rebels are unlikely to take on the Kurdish Peshmerga and that the KRG is much better prepared for any trouble than Maliki was.”
“In addition at a time when Baghdad is under threat what better way to remind the world that their oil has a pipeline export route through Turkey? Finally the Iraqi oil Minister at the Opec conference yesterday said that this trouble made an agreement with the KRG ‘more likely’.”
“So, the Opec meeting left output targets and quotas untouched as predicted although it did add the rider that the cartel would ‘take steps’ to ensure that the market remained stable at all times.”
“Brent rose during the Iraqi troubles and at one stage touched $110.40 during the day but drifted back to below the $110 level at the close.”
“WTI had other things on its mind viz the EIA inventory stats which showed a draw of 2.6m barrels which was around a million barrels more than forecast. Having said that, WTI which had also reached a high of $105.06 during the day, also failed to hold the high and fell back by 65 cents off the peak.”