Crude prices rise as US pressures Europe on Iran

Crude oil prices were higher on Thursday after the administration of US President George W. Bush upped their pressure on European allies to urge Iran to halt its uranium enrichment activities and to tell the truth about its nuclear ambitions despite a new US intelligence report which said that Iran stopped pursuing a nuclear weapon several years ago.

Some analysts also considered the gain in prices a delayed reaction to Wednesday’s report on US inventories, which showed that crude inventories were down much more than had been anticipated in the week ending 30 November.

West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery added $3.16 to $90.65 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while January contracts for Brent crude were up $2.19 to $90.68 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex January gasoline added 9.3 cents to $2.31 per gallon while January heating oil was up 6 cents to $2.55 per gallon.

A report that natural gas stockpiles were down by 88 billion cubic feet last week sent January natural gas contracts 16 cents higher to $7.346 per 1,000 cubic feet.