As Iran continues to defy a U.N. Security Council deadline to stop enriching uranium, creating concerns about supplies in the market and have caused crude oil prices to rise above US$73 a barrel. Iran, OPEC's second-largest oil producer, has said it does not intend to halt oil exports as a political tactic, but some traders fear it's a possibility if the dispute escalates, which would most likely cause oil prices to rise. Other factors aiding in supply concerns are refinery outages in Italy and California, and violence in Nigeria (the fifth-largest source of U.S. oil imports).
Iran's top nuclear negotiator declared Sunday his country was "allergic to the suspension" of uranium enrichment, while its president insisted Iran was within its rights under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium to fuel reactors for civilian electricity generation.
The chief of International Atomic Energy Agency has issued a report certifying Iran was in violation and has paved the way for the council to take punitive measures against Iran. Immediate action is unlikely because veto-holding members Russia and China are opposed to international sanctions.
02-May-06 
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