Oil prices rose modestly today as dealers took stock after a three-day losing streak from record highs near $50 a barrel.
US light crude gained 14 cents to $45.35 a barrel and London Brent rose 12 cents to $42.44 a barrel.
Prices remain $8 higher than at the end of June, bolstered by robust world oil demand growth. An easing of supply side concerns helped fuel profit-taking from Friday's $49.40-a-barrel record.
"Prices will ease back unless we have another supply-side issue that we haven't seen already," said Daniel Hynes, industry analyst at ANZ Bank in Melbourne.
Prices fell this week after Iraq restored full crude exports of two million barrels a day from its southern Basra fields and restarted deliveries at 450,000 bpd, half capacity, from its northern Kirkuk fields for the first time since May.
But there is no sign yet of any significant impact from high crude prices on the world economic growth that is fuelling the fastest global oil demand growth in 24 years.
European Central Bank President Mr Jean-Claude Trichet said today that the ECB's outlook for euro zone growth remained unchanged.
"All things being equal, high oil prices are not good for growth in principle and they are not good for price increases," Mr Trichet told RTL radio in an interview.
But he said the situation was not comparable to the energy crises of the 1970s and 1980s, because price increases were less strong and economies were far better protected against fuel prices.
Traders were waiting for weekly US inventory data due at 2.30 p.m. forecast to show crude stocks up 600,000 barrels in the week to August 20th.