Nothing But Politics

[Rick Faurot]

Oil Holds Strong Near $45 on Iraq, Russia
Wed Aug 11, 2004 07:32 AM ET

By Richard Mably
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices held strong near record highs on Wednesday as sabotage in Iraq, worries about Russian oil company YUKOS and a fresh warning on the lack of spare capacity in OPEC underscored concerns about tight world supplies.

U.S. light crude rose 11 cents to $44.61 a barrel, after touching a record $45.04 on Tuesday. U.S. prices are up 19 percent, or $7 a barrel, since the end of June. London Brent rose 14 cents to $41.42 a barrel.