Oil Prices Fall as U.S. Weighs Talks With Iran
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323308504579084483447997164.html
1/ Both the U.S. and European contracts couldn't sustain the momentum from Wednesday after <b> Iranian President Hasan Rouhani told NBC News the country wouldn't seek any weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. </b>
2/ <b>The comments come as the Obama administration plans to meet with the Iranian government next week </b>over its nuclear ambitions, with the possibility of a direct exchange between President Barack Obama and Mr. Rouhani at the United Nations reportedly under consideration.
3/ The development has some investors wondering if the talks could eventually lead to the lifting of tough sanctions against Iran, which have sharply reduced the country's oil exports in recent years. Iran produced 3.5 million barrels of total liquids in 2012, of which 3 million barrels were crude. The total production number was down 17% from 4.2 million barrels a year earlier, due mainly to sanctions, according to the Energy Information Administration.
"I think the rally generated from the Federal Reserve decision is going to dissipate when you have comments like that from the Iranian president crossing the wire," said John Kilduff, founding partner of Again Capital in New York.
4/ "It's a very bearish development for crude prices," he said.
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<b>Oil Falls on Sluggish U.S. Employment Growth, Iran Talks</b>
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-...s-sluggish-employment-growth-iran-nuclea.html
NEW YORK, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Oil fell around $1 a barrel on Tuesday as Iran's new president signalled willingness to negotiate with the West over Tehran's disputed nuclear program and as U.S. gasoline prices slid after a sell-off in ethanol credits.
Iran's newly elected President Hassan Rouhani said he was ready to enter "serious and substantive" negotiations, reducing the geopolitical risk premium for oil prices.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department said Rouhani's inauguration presented "an opportunity," but that the United States wants to see Iran take "credible steps" toward the solution of the conflict.
The price of U.S. gasoline fell 1.25 percent, dragged down by a sell-off in the ethanol credits U.S. refiners must purchase to comply with environmental regulations.