Oil

Oil hits record $72 on Iran fears

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil hit a record $72.20 a barrel on Tuesday as Iran defied world pressure to halt its nuclear program, raising new fears of a cut in supplies from the world's fourth biggest crude exporter.

In London, North Sea Brent crude oil jumped 74 cents to set the new all-time high as Iran and the West exchanged increasingly sharp words over the Islamic Republic's determination to push ahead with uranium enrichment.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed to $70.88, smashing through its previous record of $70.85.

"The Iranian situation is making us all very nervous... We don't seem to be getting anywhere on the diplomatic solutions," said Deborah White, an analyst at SGCIB in Paris.

The ones who are benefitting from this nuclear standoff are the oligarchs. Not to mentoin that George Bush and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are both quite mad, we can only hope cooler heads prevail.