Oil prices lower in Asian trade

SINGAPORE – Oil prices were lower in Asian trade Monday as traders took profits from last week’s gains, while concerns over crude producer Iran’s nuclear programme remain, analysts said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, shed 23 cents to $109.54, while Brent North Sea crude for April delivery was down 14 cents to $125.33 in morning trade.

“Prices are essentially holding quite steady, but we are seeing a slight pullback in oil prices due to some profit-taking,” said Victor Shum, senior principal at Purvin and Gertz international energy consultants in Singapore.

“Prices continued to be primarily driven by concerns over Iran and the IAEA report released last week,” he told AFP.

The UN atomic agency on Friday said it had “major differences” with Iran and “major concerns” about its nuclear programme, after inspectors returned empty-handed from a trip to Tehran.

In a report on the trip to probe weapon works in Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it continues to have serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to the country’s nuclear programme.

Tehran, which has been hit by a raft of economic sanctions by the United States, United Nations and the European Union over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment activities, insists its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.

Iran’s military and political leaders had earlier warned they could close the Strait of Hormuz – a key transit route for global oil supplies – if increased Western sanctions halt Iranian oil exports.