World oil prices eased from fresh record highs on Tuesday after Iraq resumed exports following an attack on the pipeline from its southern oilfields.
US light crude touched $45.04 a barrel, a record in the 21-year history of crude futures trade on the NYMEX, before the news of restored Iraqi supplies sent prices down 44 cents on the day to $44.40 a barrel. London brent crude was down 22 cents at $41.34 a barrel. With world oil producers pumping close to full capacity, fears are that another outage in Iraq could send prices up to $50 a barrel. —(Reuters)