Iran: Hey, Wanna See Oil Hit $150 a Barrel?

Iran is getting ready to vote today on banning oil sales to the EU—you know, before the EU can enact an embargo on aforementioned oil—and Tehran is engaging in some typical sabre-rattling, with the head of Iran's state oil company predicting global crude prices will head into the stratosphere. "It seems we will witness prices from $120 to $150 in the future," said Ahmad Qalehbani. Iran is insisting that it can find new buyers for the 18% of its output that Europe gobbles up, and that an embargo won't hurt it.

"The sale of some 18% of Iranian oil, to a market other than the EU, is quite possible. But our long term idea is to increase refining capacities to produce valuable products," he tells a state news agency. The AP notes, however, that some 80% of the country's foreign revenue is derived from the export of oil. (More Iran stories.)