From PressTV
OPEC Chief Abdallah el-Badri warns that Iran's oil output would be difficult to replace if an attack took place on the Islamic Republic.
The secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries told the daily newsletter of the World Petroleum Congress on Thursday: "If something happened in Iran, it would be difficult to replace 4.2 million barrels a day . . . the price (of crude) will go up of course."
Badri's remarks came after Israeli military exercise early in June, which was widely viewed as rehearsal for a potential strike on Iran's nuclear installations.
Oil surged past $145 per barrel for the first time on Thursday due to the depreciating US dollar and tension in the Middle East.
When asked about fears that Iran would close the straits of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf if attacked, he replied that if engaged in a war a country may use any strategy to win.
Hormuz is a key shipping route through which 40 percent of Middle Eastern oil supplies pass.
On Wednesday, the Iranian oil minister warned that a military action against Iran would provoke an unimaginably fierce reaction from the country.
Gholam-Hossein Nozari said that Iran's reaction to any attack on the country would spike oil prices in an already unstable market.
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