April 27, 2007	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 09, 1428

LONDON, April 26: World oil prices slid on Thursday on reports that Iran and the EU have made progress in talks aimed at settling a nuclear dispute that has harmed relations between the key crude producer and West.

Iran is the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter and traders fear the dispute over the country's nuclear programme could at some point prompt the Islamic Republic to cut crude exports.

In London on Thursday, the price of Brent North Sea crude for June delivery fell 43 cents to $68.14 per barrel in electronic deals.

New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, shed 11 cents to $65.73 per barrel in US floor trading.

Price losses were limited, however, by ongoing market concerns over weak American gasoline or petrol reserves heading into the peak-demand season for motor fuel, when the driving season starts next month in the United States.

“Crude futures were a little lower on Thursday in both London and New York, easing off after Iran’s chief negotiator hinted that some common ground has been found between the EU and Iran,” Sucden analyst Michael Davies said in London.

“The two parties are due to meet again in two weeks and there were suggestions that the differences between them are narrowing and this reduced some of the geopolitical risk premium on oil prices.”

But Davies sounded a cautious note over the latest developments.

“We would argue that we have seen this sort of situation time and time again and that it remains unlikely that Iran will concede to the West’s demands and give up nuclear enrichment,” the analyst warned.

Meanwhile, traders said oil prices were underpinned by weak US gasoline stocks ahead of the driving season when many Americans hit the roads for their summer vacations.

The US Department of Energy had said on Wednesday that reserves sank by 2.8 million barrels in the week ending April 20.

That marked the 11th consecutive weekly drop for gasoline inventories and compared with market expectations for a lighter fall of just 500,000 barrels.—AFP