Commodity Online
NEW YORK : Oil prices rose slightly Wednesday in Asian trade and was up by 10 cents in the morning session after a near  record slump overnight in New York.

In early Asian trade Wednesday, Crude oil for August delivery was at $136.14 a barrel, up 10 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

On Tuesday, crude has dropped more than $9, the most in three months, and suffered its biggest one day fall in seventeen years.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery settled $5.33, or 3.5 per cent, lower at $136.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil futures traded near a two-week low in New York as Iran downplayed the possibility of a war and the dollar rose, limiting the appeal of commodities. Iranian President Ahmadinejad dismissed the chance of a war with the US and Israel over his country's nuclear intentions, diminishing concerns of supply disruptions.

The decline is the biggest single day drop in dollar terms since January 17, 1991, when oil lost more than $10 a barrel after the US began the air bombardment of Iraq during the first Gulf War and concurrently said it would release oil from strategic stockpiles.

The US dollar traded near a two-week high against the euro, reducing the demand for oil as an inflation hedge.

Brent crude oil for August settlement was at $136.64 a barrel, up 21 cents, on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange.

Tuesday , it fell $5.44, or 3.8%, to settle at $136.43 a barrel, the biggest drop since March 19.

Oil in New York climbed 8.3% in the two weeks before the July 3 record on reports that Israel may attack Iran over its nuclear program.