Oil prices up on Iran concerns

The price of crude oil was up on Tuesday after early declines. Brent crude for April delivery was 67 cents higher to $62.00 per barrel by late afternoon in London, while April contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude added 63 cents to $62.03 per barrel in early afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the day April WTI was up as high as $62.25 per barrel. WTI is up over 25 percent since dropping to $49.90 per barrel, a 20-month low, last month.

Most of the blame for the day’s price increase has been put on the continuing disagreement between Iran and Western nations over Iran’s uranium enrichment program. The UN is working on putting tougher sanctions into place since the Middle Eastern nation refused to suspend its nuclear program last week in response to a UN deadline. Concerns ratcheted up after Iran’s foreign minister said that his country would “never” suspend its enrichment program.