for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve? Nah, that would make too much sense.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday as the United States said it would continue taking crude off the market to fill its strategic reserve and the U.S. administration in Iraq outlined the slow struggle to get oil exports fully back onstream.
U.S. retail gasoline prices hit an all-time record, the American Automobile Association said on Tuesday. The average pump price for regular gasoline reached $1.738 per gallon, up a tenth of a cent from the previous high set late last summer, the AAA said.
U.S. light crude futures rose 40 cents to $37.45 a barrel, up 1.1 percent, while London Brent fetched 51 cents more at $33.31, up 1.5 percent.
Prices have recently slipped from last week's 13-year closing-high of $38.18 for U.S. crude, helped down by speculation that OPEC might delay a cut in its production quota announced last month and scheduled to take effect April 1.
In Washington, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham reiterated that the government would not halt oil deliveries to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and said the price impact of the deliveries was "nearly negligible" -- something most analysts agree with.
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