June 17, 2006	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 20, 1427

LONDON, June 16: World oil prices dipped on Friday as traders were reassured over positive developments concerning the Iranian nuclear energy crisis, dealers said.New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, fell 50 cents to $69.00 per barrel in pit trading.In London, Brent North Sea crude for August delivery shed 67 cents to $67.78 per barrel in electronic deals. The July contract expired on Thursday at the close.

Crude futures had rebounded by almost one dollar between Wednesday and Thursday, erasing much of the losses sustained during the previous eight

days.

According to Kevin Norrish of Barclays Capital, there was “a positive response from Iranian President Ahmadinejad to the recent offer of incentives to curb Iran’s nuclear programme”.

Norrish added that the

market was weakening as traders made adjustments to

their positions ahead of the weekend.

Sucden analyst Sam Tilley

remained cautious over Iran however.

“It seems clear that while these latest developments are positive, there is still along way to go before we reach any kind of solution to the issue,” he

said.

Crude prices had held steady for much of Friday and a slight recovery for commodities as economic concerns subsided over the threat of rising inflation.

Investor worries had eased following comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that inflation expectations have “fallen back somewhat”, Tilley added.

However, traders seized this week on news of sharp oil

demand growth in the United States and China — respectively the first and second-biggest crude consumers in the

world.

The US and China together consumed 27.6 million barrels per day of crude oil in 2005, accounting for one third of total global demand, British energy giant BP had said in an annual review published on Wednesday.—AFP