April 03, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 14, 1428

LONDON, April 2: World oil prices were mixed on Monday, but traded above $68 a barrel in London on supply concerns caused by the Britain-Iran sailor crisis, traders said. In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for May rose 49 cents to $68.59 in electronic deals.

New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, slid 27 cents to $65.60 in floor trading.

“Prices have surged in recent days as relations between Iran and the West have deteriorated,” Sucden analyst Michael Davies said.

Iran is the world’s fourth-biggest producer of crude oil and some analysts believe there is a risk that the Islamic Republic could move to disrupt its oil exports should the crisis with Britain escalate.

Last week Brent crude reached 69.14 dollars a barrel — the highest level since September 4, 2006 — on the Iran crisis.

On Monday the market was also tracking events in Nigeria, where gunmen in the southern Bayelsa State on Monday kidnapped two Lebanese nationals, two days after a British oil worker was seized from an offshore rig.—AFP