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'Crude oil could hit $100'
21/01/2003 10:08 - (SA)
Doha - The price of crude may soar to US$100 a barrel if Iraq sets oilfields ablaze in the event of a US-led war, leading to a global disaster, according to former Saudi oil minister Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani.
Saddam "could destroy Iraqi oil wells... and strategic reserves would thus fall... and a barrel could reach between $80 and $100," the co-founder of the Opec cartel said late on Monday.
The United States "would be the cause of a global disaster if they strike Iraq," he told a conference in the Qatari capital.
"The bombing of Iraq's oil resources and the oil sector in Iraq would cause a major increase in crude prices to between $80 and $100," he added.
"A (US) military operation against Iraq would damage the oil wells and cause confessional unrest in the country... which would lead to a strong increase in prices and the weakening of the world economy," Yamani said. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA
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