"It has not been widely publicized but we understand that the US Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its strike group will depart San Diego coming Monday and head to the Persian Gulf...having three US aircraft carrier strike groups in the Gulf will be a major escalation. The strike risk will be at its peak in the next 60 days. We believe that the oil market will keep the risk premium when it soon realizes that a third carrier is being sent to the Gulf."
Olivier Jakob said in a Petromatrix report that support for global crude futures is still strong during early trading in Europe Thursday on the back of ongoing tensions surrounding Iran, which is putting a healthy risk premium on crude futures prices.
"The United States is in Iraq at the request of the Iraqis and under a United Nations mandate. Any suggestion to the contrary is wrong."
The White House insisted Wednesday that Saudi King Abdullah, a key US ally among Arab states, was wrong to say the US military presence in Iraq is an "illegitimate foreign occupation."
Updated: March 29, 2007
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