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Oil-Prices
July 8, 2010 Updated Jul 8, 2010 at 3:25 PM EDT

Oil prices are on the rise in anticipation that the U-S Federal
Reserve will lower interest rates later in the day .
A cut would likely help the economy of the world's Number One
oil consumer and and could bolster demand for crude.
News of several crude oil pipeline shutdowns in the U-S Midwest
due to power outages caused by ice storms also supported prices.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery rose 38 cents to
(Canadian) $88.24 U-S a barrel in electronic trading on the New
York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe.
The contract had fallen 42 cents to settle at (Canadian) $87.86
U-S a barrel on Monday.
In London, Brent crude futures rose 20 cents to (Canadian)
$88.24 U-S a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to lower its key rate,
now at 4.5 per cent, by a quarter of a percentage point - or
perhaps more.
It's an attempt to try to keep troubles in the housing and
credit markets from sinking the economy.
(The Associated Press) (from Broadcast News Ltd.)

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