=================== XLE & OIH are still pretty good looking uptrends; pretty good demand in USA also. Not likely Iran will help the oil bears either ; not a prediction , but probablities
Sure enough, we're above $71 again. We will see $80 no doubt. PLUS, have you seen what happened in the middle east markets? They'll tighten the oil supply if they start needing cash because it will cause oil to go up and more money in their pockets to save themselves.
NYMEX oil up sharply on Iraq fears, weather watch NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures extended already sharp gains by midday Friday as analysts warned the killing of Iraq's al Qaeda leader Musab al-Zarqawi on Thursday would not end threats to Iraq's battered oil industry. There are other militant groups that could intensify their efforts to carry out sectarian violence and continue to destabilize oil production and shipments, the analysts said. Traders were also covering short positions as a close watch for weather disturbances began, with the Atlantic hurricane season now under way. At 12:25 p.m. EDT (1625 GMT), crude for July delivery (CLN6) was up $1.20 at $71.55 a barrel after peaking at $71.70 in a rebound after three days of losses on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, July Brent crude (LCON6) rose $1.29 to $70.34. "Neither Zarqawi nor al Qaeda appear to have been major factors behind pipeline attacks in Iraq, so his death is unlikely to boost oil infrastructure security in the short term," said Antoine Halff, analyst at Fimat in New York. NYMEX July gasoline (HUN6) jumped 4.18 cents to $2.144 per gallon, with July RBOB (RBN6) bid at $2.2925 after ending at $2.2787 on Thursday. July heating oil (HON6) surged 5.64 cents to $2.042 a gallon. "There's some short-covering going on and with the hurricane season now on, traders don't want to leave short ahead of the weekend," said Tom Knight, trader at products marketer Truman Arnold in Texarcana, Texas. "We've also held at support and you're seeing some buying follow-through here," he added. On the weather front, there is a large area of disturbed weather from Central America northeastward across to the northwestern Caribbean Sea and portions of Cuba and the Bahamas, the Hurricane Center in Miami reported earlier Friday. "There is some potential for slow development within the next 12 to 24 hours as the system moves away from the land," the center said, adding tropical storm formation was not expected through Saturday. On Thursday, Iraq Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said from Istanbul that the death of Zarqawi, Iraq's al Qaeda leader, would help improve Iraq's oil production, particularly in the north. But analysts doubted that could happen soon. There are various groups thought to be behind sabotage that has kept Iraq struggling to keep pumping 2 million barrels per day, down from about 2.5 million bpd before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. On the same day Zarqawi was killed, sources said Muthana al-Badri, director general of Iraq's State Company for Oil Projects (SCOP), was on his way home in the Sunni district of Adhamiya when gunmen in four cars stopped his car, abducted him -- but set his driver free. Iran, meanwhile, has kept up the guessing game on how it may resolve its nuclear dispute with the West. On Thursday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran was ready to talk about "mutual concerns and solving misunderstandings in the international arena." But just a day before, Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh said Iran could still use its oil exports as a weapon in the dispute with the West about its restarted nuclear program. Tension over Iran's nuclear work continued as it launched a new round of uranium enrichment this week just as world powers dangled an incentive package for it to halt what the West sees as a potential to make atomic bombs. TECHNICALS NYMEX crude's resistance was hurdled at $71. Support lies at $69. Gasoline's resistance was topped at $2.14. Support is charted at $2.06. Heating oil resistance was breached at $2. Support is at $1.96. The gasoline crack spread (CL-HU1=R) rose to $18.87. The NYMEX crude oil forward curve remained in contango, with the December contract (CLZ6) at $74.35.