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<H1>Oil ends week on record high</H1>
<DIV id=promoTopRight>From: Agence France-Presse </DIV>
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<DIV id=storyAuthorName>From correspondents in New York</DIV><BR>July 15, 2006
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<P class=storyBodyInitial>IGNITED by a flare-up in violence in the Middle East,
world oil prices ended the week at record highs as prices in New York and London
spiked to over $US77 a barrel overnight.</P>New York's main contract, light
sweet crude for delivery in August, rallied 33 cents to close at $US77.03 a
barrel.
<P>However, New York prices had broached $US78 in overnight electronic
trading.</P>
<P>In London, Brent North Sea crude for August delivery settled at $US77.27, up
58 cents from Thursday.</P>
<P>Friday's gains came after oil prices smashed the $US76-dollar-a-barrel
barrier for the first time Thursday, and amid steep prices gains in recent days
as Israel mounted a military offensive across Lebanon and Hezbollah guerrillas
fired rockets into Israel.</P>
<P>"We have to conclude that this will get worse before it gets better, and the
possibility exists that forces may have been unleashed that may be difficult or
even impossible to contain," said John Kilduff, an energy analyst at Fimat
USA.</P>
<P></P>"Market participants must now let prudence be their most influential
guide; thus, there are many more reasons to buy than sell," he said.
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