April 4, 2003	Friday	Safar 1, 1424

LONDON, April 3: Oil prices rebounded on Thursday after recent falls, with optimism at the rapid US advance towards Baghdad tempered by continued concerns about the outlook for Iraqi and Nigerian supplies.

The price of reference Brent North Sea crude oil for May delivery climbed 56 cents to $25.71 per barrel in late trading here.

New York light sweet crude oil for May delivery rose 19 cents to $28.75 a barrel in early trading, having slumped by over $1 a day earlier.

News that US-led troops had moved to the outskirts of the Iraqi capital’s airport helped to ease worries about the possibility of a protracted war.

“It looks like there is strong movement again of the allies towards Baghdad, which is making people think that the war is not going to be so long after all,” said Deutsche Bank analyst Adam Sieminski.

But Commerzbank analyst David Thomas said that early falls in oil prices sparked by the coalition advances appeared to have been overdone.

A resumption of exports from Iraq’s devastated oil fields remains months away, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting US Army engineers assessing damage to the main sites in the south of the country.

Concern about supplies from Nigeria, where production has slumped by more than 40 per cent amidst civil strife, also lent support to prices.—AFP