* Oil hovers above $144 a barrel, up 50 pct this year
* Iran vows to pursue its uranium enrichment programme
* OPEC President Chakib Khelil rules out oil price fall
By Fayen Wong
PERTH, July 7 (Reuters) - Oil was little changed at around
$144 a barrel on Monday, holding near last week's record high
after Iran reasserted its right to pursue uranium enrichment.
U.S. light crude for August delivery <CLc1> traded at
$143.92 a barrel by 0108 GMT, a touch firmer than late Friday
dealing. The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) did not issue
an official Friday closing price due to the July 4 holiday.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose 23 cents to $144.65.
Oil hit a record $145.85 hit on Thursday, but fell more
than $1 on Friday as traders anticipated easing tensions
between Iran and the West after Tehran responded to a package
of incentives to try to resolve the long-running dispute over
its nuclear efforts.
But in its first public response to the offer on Saturday,
Iran vowed to pursue its enrichment programme, saying it had no
intention of discussing its "right to enriching uranium".
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"Geopolitical concerns are still supporting oil prices.
Iran sent out some mixed signals over the weekend and they
haven't given any clear indication on whether they would step
up with their nuclear programme or give way," said Toby
Hassall, an analyst at Commodity Warrants Australia in Sydney.
"Apart from Iran, oil prices will also be dependent on the
U.S. dollar movements and the U.S. equity markets this week."
Iran government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham told a news
conference on Saturday: "Iran's stance has not changed (on
uranium enrichment) and we are ready to hold talks in the
framework of preserving Iran's nuclear rights."
On a more positive note, Iran's foreign minister on Sunday
expressed optimism about what he said was a "new environment"
for talks with major Western powers over its nuclear programme.
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Foreign Minister Monouchehr Mottaki said recent discussions
over a package of incentives from major powers aimed at getting
Iran to curb its nuclear enrichment programme were "different
from the previous discussions and negotiations."
Oil has gained about 50 percent this year, driven partly by
the tensions over Iran's nuclear programme, plus expectations
that global oil supplies will fail to keep pace with strong
demand growth from newly industrialising China and India.
OPEC President Chakib Khelil ruled out on Sunday an
eventual oil price fall in view of strong Chinese and Indian
demand, adding geopolitics and a weak dollar were behind the
current spike, Algeria's APS news agency reported.
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Separately, French tuna fishermen resumed their blockade of
France's Fos-Lavera oil hub on Friday to protest against the
European Commission's decision to end their fishing season
early.
The fishermen had removed their boats at about 0500 GMT
after a first 24-hour blockade, according to port authorities,
but in the late afternoon fishermen's union leaders said the
boats were back blocking accesses to the port. []
(Reporting by Fayen Wong; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
