Oil Prices Fall As Iraq Gears Up For Exports

International marker crude Brent Blend for January delivery on Londons International Petroleum Exchange fell to an intra-day low of $24.04 a barrel but later recovered to trade 51 cents down at $24.12 a barrel by 1356 GMT.

Its down because of the headline that Iraq is to resume exports on Tuesday, a futures broker said. He also mentioned weakness in the stock market and fears of a knock-on effect on commodities.

Iraqi oil minister General Amir Muhammad Rasheed said in an interview on Iraqi television that his country would be able to export oil early on Tuesday morning once UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali submitted his final report as scheduled.

 

We expect the UN secretary-general to submit his final report no later than Monday (December 9), he said in the interview, monitored by the BBC.