Iran’s nuclear aspirations help drive oil futures

Anticipation about an intensifying nuclear conflict between Iran and western powers helped drive crude oil futures to their highest value in two weeks, Bloomberg reports.

The energy commodity gained 0.8 percent in value shortly after U.S. legislators approved a bill targeting the central bank of Iran on Thursday while the European Union sharpened the scope of its sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation.

Crude oil futures also benefited from U.S. Department of Labor news indicating unemployment in the nation hosting the globe's top economy fell to its lowest rate in two-plus years.

But the significant driver is what many believe to be a pending face-off between Iran and the west.

"The market is being bid up because of issues in the Middle East," chief market strategist Bill O'Grady with Confluence Investment Management in St. Louis told Bloomberg. "I wouldn't go home short over the weekend when tensions between Iran and the rest are increasing."

At 3:26 p.m. on Friday, crude oil futures climbed 1.21 percent, a $1.32 rise to $110.31 per barrel.

The Associated Press reports the jobless rate falling to its lowest amount since March 2009 drove crude oil futures. The demand for gasoline is likely to rise as a consequence of more people working.

"There was a knee-jerk reaction to the jobs report, but the economy isn't as rosy as the headlines suggest," independent analyst and trader Stephen Schork told The Associated Press.

The past week saw the price of oil advance for the most part amid additional issues that typically pressure the energy commodity upward in value.

As part of an effort to increase the dollar flow to international banks, six central banks agreed earlier this week to ease restrictions.

The globe's top consumer of oil, the U.S., also took on a brighter outlook after sales on Black Friday were stronger than anticipated. The Friday after Thanksgiving annually kicks off the holiday shopping season in that nation.

Bloomberg reports the bill passed by the U.S. Senate permits the U.S. president to prohibit international financial institutions that conduct commerce with the central bank of Iran from possessing U.S. bank accounts. Slated to take effect July 1, the bill projects to challenge foreign companies' abilities to cover oil imports from the oil-rich nation.

But the bill is likely to face resistance from the Obama administration, which stands opposed to the legislation.

In November, Iran pumped 3.56 million barrel of oil, according to a Bloomberg survey. Of the nations in OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Saudi Arabia is the biggest producer.

The price of oil fell in the morning on the U.S. east coast after the U.S. Labor Department indicated payrolls in the U.S. grew by 120,000 in November.

"Concerns about Iran are supporting the market," market research director Addison Armstrong with Tradition Energy in Connecticut told Bloomberg. "The reaction to the payrolls data was an example of buy the rumor, sell the fact. We reached our high just before the numbers were released."

Reuters reports an Austrian oil firm with interests in oil-rich Libya announced production of the energy resource from the war-torn nation has reached half of the level it stood at prior to the civil war beginning earlier this year.

"At the moment we are at 50 percent of the pre-war level," Chief Executive Gerhard Roiss told reporters, noting they help produce roughly 17,000 barrels per day.

He also noted that it will take as many as 15 months from when fighting ended to fully resume oil production in Libya.