Yesterday's crunch meeting of oil producers and consumers has failed to take the heat out of the oil price, which climbed again today amid mounting tensions between Israel and Iran.

The gathering in Jeddah, attended by prime minister Gordon Brown, did not produce a breakthrough on how to lower oil prices from its near-record levels. Instead it saw a clash between Brown and the head of Opec, and has also led to a war of words in Australia.

A barrel of US light crude for August delivery jumped to a high of $137.50 earlier this morning and was trading at $136.69 by 11.30am, while London Brent crude climbed $1.18 to $136.02 after hitting an earlier high of $137.24. ... Read full article