The price of crude rose above 32 dollars a barrel on Friday morning, as the market digested news that Iraq had halted some oil shipments amid a payments row with the United Nations.
A barrel of North Sea Brent reference crude pushed up as high as 32.19 dollars from 31.88 dollars at Thursday's close.
Analysts said the market had already priced in a halt in Iraqi exports and added that investors had already been reassured by hopes that the shortfall could be made up elsewhere, most notably by an increase in Saudi exports and US use of its special petroleum reserve.
"People in the market were expecting a complete halt from midnight last night," said Lawrence Eagles, an analyst with the GNI brokerage. "I think we will see a little bit of a rebound this morning" -- LONDON (AFP)
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