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Oil Prices Edge Down As Traders Take Profits

Posted on: Tuesday, 7 February 2006, 09:00 CST

Oil prices edge down as traders take profits

NEW YORK, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- World crude oil prices edged down Monday as traders took profits after IAEA agreed to report Iran' nuclear program to the Security Council.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, which had been higher for much of the day, closed down 26 cents at 65.11 dollars per barrel.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for March delivery dipped six cents to close at 63.33 dollars per barrel.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange,the March heating oil fell 1.88 cents to settle at 1.7628 dollars a gallon, while March gasoline fell 3.75 cents to settle at 1.6442 dollars a gallon. Natural gas fell 61.8 cents to 7.995 dollars per 1,000 cubic feet.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)has reached a decision Saturday to report Iran' nuclear program to the Security Council, which has the power to impose economic and political sanctions.. Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said IAEA had been officially told its inspectors would no longer be allowed to conduct short-notice, wide-reaching inspection trips and that uranium enrichment work would resume. The market focus has now shifted to mediation efforts by China and Russia.

Iran announced to relaunch nuclear research on Jan. 10, igniting tension between the West and this second biggest oil producer within the OPEC.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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