Oil prices slide as supply fears ease

WORLD oil prices were on the slide for the third successive session today as the resumption of Iraqi exports to near-normal levels eased global supply fears.

US light crude fell 8 cents to $45.97 a barrel, well below last week's record $49.40. London's Brent dropped 14 cents to $42.89.

But analysts said despite the short-term dip, prices could still burst through the $50 a barrel mark.

Rob Laughlin at GNI Man Financial said: 'The market has run out of bullish things to say. But I see no reason why, with the right piece of news, an attack on an Iraqi pipeline or a hurricane, it can't go right back up there.'

Bruce Evers at Investec said: 'It's just a little bit of a pull back but I still think we are in an upward trend.'

Pumping resumed along Iraq's northern pipeline between Kirkuk and the Turkish port of Ceyhan following a three-month halt. Meanwhile, exports from the south of Iraq returned to normal following threats by Shia militia to blow up pipelines feeding Iraq's two southern terminals.

US policymakers said last night that sky-high oil prices would not derail America's recovery. 'There's going to be a little bit of a slowdown effect, but at the current levels I don't think it will derail what looks like a self-sustaining expansion,' said Federal Reserve Governor Ben Bernanke.