The Surge  

A token post tonight as I'm bogged down in one of those longer posts I feel the need to assemble from time to time.

Oil hit a record price in US$ today, with a variety of factors keeping traders on edge.

Crude oil rose to a record above $85 a barrel as tensions on the Turkey-Iraq border increased concern that supplies may be threatened as global stockpiles decline.

Turkish lawmakers will vote this week on allowing military attacks within a year against Kurdish rebel bases in the north of Iraq, which has the world's third-largest oil reserves. Global fuel inventories fell below a five-year average last month, a period when they typically rise, the International Energy Agency said Oct. 11.

Oil is ``underpinned by mounting tension between Turkey and Iraq,'' said Andrey Kryuchenkov, a London-based analyst at Sucden (U.K.) Ltd. ``Bullish fundamentals in combination with the broad weakness in the dollar are already providing a substantial support for crude prices.''

Crude oil for November delivery climbed as much as $1.50, or 1.8 percent, to $85.19 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract traded at $84.83 at 1:44 p.m. London time.

Brent crude oil for November settlement rose as much as $1.38, or 1.7 percent, to a record $81.93 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It traded at $81.48 a barrel at 1:44 p.m.

Prices rallied last week after 15 Turkish soldiers were killed by Kurdistan Workers' Party rebels. Crude also rose as the IEA said declining product inventories are sustaining high prices and after a U.S. Energy Department report showed the nation's crude stockpiles unexpectedly fell the week before.