Oil prices reach new record high at $145.
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Oil prices reach new record high at $145.*
OPEC believes oil prices could go as high as $170 a barrel this year
BBC - The price of oil has continued its surge upwards - hitting a new
high of $145 a barrel in trading in Singapore.
London Brent crude rose by 74 cents to $145.00 in early Asian trade.
Light sweet crude rose 81 cents to $144.38.
The rises follow earlier highs recorded in London and New York after the
US government announced its oil stockpiles fell more than expected last
week.
Global oil prices have doubled in the past year and risen by 45% since
the start of 2008.
A combination of the weak US dollar, surging demand and concerns about
supply disruptions in the Middle East and Africa have forced prices up.
This latest surge comes amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran.
Iran would respond "fiercely" to any attack against it, Foreign Minister
Gholam Hossein Nozari said on the sidelines of the World Petroleum
Congress in Madrid.
Top officials have been discussing measures to combat high prices and to
increase long-term supplies at the meeting in the Spanish capital.