111.   Oil stocks, such as Petro-Canada and Talisman Energy Inc. may gain on higher oil prices amid expectations Iraqi oil exports will be further delayed.

112.   Only Exxon Mobil Corp., a beneficiary of higher oil prices, and Microsoft Corp., which seems immune, kept the Dow from falling farther.

113.   One of the reasons is higher oil and natural gas prices, which have fueled optimism among investors, analysts said.

114.   Optimism over sales figures of French oil companies and higher oil prices also contributed.

115.   Oyson said he estimates inflation will stay at single-digit levels even with the higher oil prices and transport fare increases that may result from the depreciation.

116.   Parts of West Asia and North Africa, a region that includes many OPEC members, are benefiting from higher oil prices, it said.

117.   Part of that gloom was a belief, broadly accepted, that higher oil prices were here to stay.

118.   Prospects for higher heating oil demand also helped boost oil prices.

119.   Richardson will discuss the higher oil prices with the man who helped shape the trend, Energy Secretary Luis Tellez.

120.   Shares of major oil companies have soared over the last year as higher oil and natural gas prices have boosted earnings, in many cases to record levels.