* Oil near $145 a barrel, up 50 pct this year
* Venezuela's Chavez says $100 fair price for oil
* Iran-Israel tensions
(Recasts, updates prices, previous SINGAPORE)
LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Oil was near $145 a barrel on
Friday, close to record highs reached in the previous session
when traders bought into the market ahead of a holiday weekend
in the United States.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> was down 44 cents at $144.85 a barrel,
by 0912 GMT, below an all-time high of $145.85 hit on Thursday.
The contract has risen more than 50 percent this year.
London Brent <LCOc1> was down 21 cents to $145.87.
Investors have rushed into crude oil ahead of the U.S.
independence day holiday on July 4, because they are wary of any
escalation in tensions between Iran and Israel that have
contributed to oil's rise to a record of $145.85 this week.
Oil has risen about 50 percent this year, driven partly by
the tensions over Iran's nuclear programme, plus expectations
that global oil supplies will not be able to cope in the long
term with strong demand growth from newly industrialising China
and India.
The price spike has caused fuel protests worldwide and has
begun to dampen demand in consuming nations, including the
United States, the world's biggest energy consumer.
The next milestone is $150 a barrel, which some analysts had
predicted the market could reach by July 4.
"It's going to go higher before it goes lower," said
Christopher Bellew, of Bache Financial.
"Two trains are rushing towards each other. One is ...
rallying oil prices and the other is economic recession. At some
point they're going to collide."
Investment flows into oil have contributed to the price
surge, encouraged by commodities' strong returns this year
versus a feeble showing from equities.
"I think the current market is driven by speculative money,
not by fundamentals," said Takeda Makoto, an analyst at Bansei
Securities.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi reiterated his belief that
the current oil rally was driven by speculators rather than any
shortage of crude oil. He repeated promises that Saudi Arabia
would pump more oil if there was demand. []
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that a price of $100
per barrel for oil is "more than enough".
"If it were up to us, $100 per barrel would be more than
enough, but it's not our fault," Chavez said during a televised
address. []
The weak U.S. dollar has also played a part in boosting oil,
which is priced in the U.S. currency.
The dollar drew some support on Friday after European
Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet appeared to play down
chances of further interest rate rises. []
(Reporting by Baizhen Chua and Annika Breidthardt in Singapore,
Jane Merriman in London)
