Oil Sticks To $126 On Iran News

On Wednesday U.S. crude oil futures maintained strength to hold near $126 per barrel after they
retraced the previous day on a report Iran said it was mulling a proposal to cut production.

U.S. crude for June delivery was trading up 14 cents, or 0.11 percent, at $125.94 a barrel on the Globex electronic trading platform.

It settled up $1.57, or 1.26 percent, at $125.80 on Tuesday, when it hit a fresh all-time intraday high of $126.98.

Oil prices regained strength on Tuesday after a report that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said a proposal to reduce the country's crude output was being reviewed by experts.

The U.S. government's oil inventory report is due later in the day with a preliminary Reuters poll of analysts forecasting a rise in crude oil and product supplies last week.

The U.S. Senate gave a veto-proof majority to a proposal to suspend deliveries to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until crude oil prices fall below $75 a barrel.

A hydrocracker at the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland will remain shut for a few weeks to repair fire damage.