Oil rises to near $72 in Asia amid cold snap in US northeast, Iran raising nuclear tensions

Oil near $72 amid US cold snap, Iran tensions

SINGAPORE — Oil prices rose near to $72 a barrel Monday in Asia after hitting a two-month low last week, boosted by tensions over Iran’s nuclear program and persistently cold weather in the U.S. northeast.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was up 56 cents at $71.75 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract plunged $1.95 to settle at $71.19 on Friday.

Oil prices fell sharply late last week as concerns over swelling debt levels in Greece, Portugal and Spain and high unemployment in the U.S. cast doubt over the global economic recovery.

Helping crude rebound Monday were expectations of a spurt in demand for crude products like heating oil because of a cold spell in the U.S. and tensions in the Middle East.

Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered Sunday his atomic agency to significantly enrich the country’s stockpile of uranium, defying pressure from Western nations to halt its nuclear program.

“This is winter’s last hurrah, while Iran’s announcement also gives an excuse for investors to buy,” said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.

In other Nymex trading in March contracts, heating oil was up 1.72 cent at $1.892 a gallon, and gasoline rose 0.5 cent to $1.8916 a gallon. Natural gas rose 11.9 cents to $5.634 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude was up 63 cents at $70.22 on the ICE futures exchange.