VIENNA, Austria — Violence and political tensions in the Middle East last summer, including the Israel-Lebanon conflict and U.S.-Iran stalemate over nuclear development, helped trigger a $10-per-barrel boost in world oil prices, international experts said.
Shortfalls in global shipping capacity and the crisis-driven increases in freight rates added another $2 to $3 to the price of a barrel of crude, said Hasan M. Qabazard, director of research at the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Saying, “We are an economic organization, not a political one — we stick to oil,” Qabazard declined to elaborate when asked about a worst-case scenario in the U.S. impasse with Iran over that nation’s nuclear research program and Tehran’s threat to use oil as a weapon if United Nations sanctions are imposed.
OPEC is “a nonbinding club…we don’t have control about what our members do,” Qabazard said. But he also stressed that OPEC has “always been a stabilizing force,” often offers spare capacity to stabilize prices and reacts to market supply shortages.
A recent report by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, said if the debate over Iran’s nuclear program leads Tehran to interfere again in the flow of oil in the Persian Gulf, “the price of oil could easily double from current levels.”
Global oil prices have been hovering between $54 and $60 a barrel.
The report said because of a military build-up, Iran has a greater capacity to interdict the flow of Persian Gulf exports.