The situations in Nigeria, Iran and Iraq remain uncertain. Fears of supply disruptions from these oil-producing nations remain.

If winter is colder than expected then prices could rebound quite sharply.

Production in the Gulf has risen dramatically and refinery input has also risen, these are good selling factors.

The Iranian situation isn't going away. There are dangerous comments coming out of Iran on their nuclear testing and that will keep oil high.

We are exposed to a terrorist threat like all other European nations deployed in Iraq,

Middle East nations are getting more petro-dollars as (oil) prices rise, and they're not putting it back into paper assets. They're trying to protect the value of their profits -- just like in the 1970s -- so they're buying gold.