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Page added on November 23, 2009

Brent oil price trading higher on fresh Iran tension

Brent crude oil prices rose above $78 in trading on Monday in Asia as Iran staged five days of war games, boosting tensions in the oil rich Middle East region. In London, Brent crude for January delivery rose $1.04 to $78.24 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Iran on Sunday began large-scale air defense war games aimed at protecting its nuclear facilities from attack as an air force commander boasted the country could deter any military strike by Israel, state television reported.

It said the five-day drill will cover an area a third of the size of Iran and spread across the central, western and southern parts of the country. Analysts said the military exercises boosted tensions in the Middle East, but they didn’t expect supplies to be affected.

“Given the trading range we’ve been in, some investors are going to view $77 as a possible buying opportunity and the Iranian war games gives an excuse to buy,” said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.

Brent oil has good resistance located at 78.35. This short term resistance does offer sellers another chance to enter this market now that the buyers have fulfilled their upside objective from Friday.