Oil closed Thursday up $2.95 to $102.59 per barrel -- another record-high print close -- after a combination of geopolitical, production, and trading factors sent investors piling into crude oil futures as an investment/inflation hedge, Bloomberg News reported Thursday.

Earlier in the day oil hit an intra-session high of $102.70 -- within 10 cents of the all-time high, in inflation-adjusted terms, of $102.80 per barrel set in April 1980.

The other major energy commodities also rose. Heating oil surged about 6 cents to $2.83 per gallon, unleaded gasoline climbed about 2 cent to $2.49, and natural gas rocketed 39 cents to $9.45 per million BTUs.

Oil prices are off to a strong start this week, as traders are pushing prices higher in reaction to multiple concerns stemming out of the Middle East.

The first factor that is weighing on traders mind's is the Turkish invasion to Iraq. Tension between Turkey and the Kurds in Northern Iraq is nothing new to the area (and violence between the two goes all the way back to 1984), but the current activity is the first confirmed operation by Turkey since the United States began its Iraqi campaign in 2003.

Over the weekend, Turkey announced that one of its helicopters had gone down in Northern Iraq, killing 8 Turkish soldiers. In reaction to that news, Turkey stepped up its force by firing in excess of 40 salvos of artillery into the territory.

Oil Friday closed up 65 cents to $98.85 -- shaking off earlier profit-taking -- after word that Turkey had launched a ground incursion across the border into northern Iraq.

It was the highest three-day print close for oil ever. Oil gained more than $3 this week and closed above $100 twice. (Oil hit an all-time high, in inflation-adjusted terms, of $102.80 per barrel in April 1980.)

Oil: bull, bear battle

Independent energy trader Jim Dietz told BloggingStocks Friday the market remains volatile and conflicted.

"What we have now is a battle royale. Oil inventories have risen for five weeks and gasoline demand is slowing. Gasoline demand is up less than 1% year-over-year, and that suggests a major drop in oil's price is ahead. Bigtime," Dietz said. "But the bulls aren't giving up. They point to Venezuela's threats to cut-off oil to the U.S., the civil strife in Nigeria that never seems to go away, OPEC's possible March cut, and now Turkey crossing the Iraq border, as bullish signs, and they have a point. So it's a pretty conflicted market right now."

As concerns over America's economy began to spread in 2007, many investors decided to look overseas for protection. In order to hedge themselves against a possible economic slowdown in the U.S., traders poured money into emerging markets such as India and China, but some are starting to question just how safe these markets will be this year.

Last year, when it looked like the U.S. economy was going to get hit with a weak dollar and nasty housing market, it made sense to look to different markets for protection, but now some are fearing that the problems that are plaguing America will reach a point where they will pull down foreign economies also.

What we have seen in 2008 is a pretty substantial downtrend in some of last year's favorite safe havens. Markets such as Korea, Thailand, Turkey and Brazil have all been hit in the first half of January and are down over 8 percent.

After a brief selloff yesterday, oil prices have been moving higher in today's action. Buyers have come back into the market today and pushed prices up as high as $95.00 earlier in the session, Prices nd are now up $1.20 to $94.69.

The main reason why prices have turned higher today is optimism about the economy created by this morning's better than expected October payroll report. According to the U.S. Labor Department, October saw a 166,000 increase in payrolls, which was more than twice the 80,000 increase that analysts expected.

The better-than-expected payroll report was enough to create some optimism of the overall economy, and put some recession fears to rest. According to Michael Lynch, who is president of Strategic Energy and Economic Research Inc., "It suggests that concerns about the economy ... are overblown a little bit."

Oil Update: Oil is now above $90 per barrel. This latest push higher by oil was blamed, for the most part, on tensions between Turkey and Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) rebels seeking Kurdish independence, which threatens to disrupt oil transport in northern Iraq. Crude oil reached new nominal high Friday of $92.22, although in real terms the price is still below oil's inflation-adjusted high of $101.70 set in April 1980 during the Iran hostage crisis.

Here's a snapshot of crude oil market conditions using three analytical frameworks, or measuring sticks, if you will, with a note on several intangibles:

Geopolitical: Add the Turkey/Kurd dispute to Iran (nuclear technology/weapons) and the Iraq War ,to confrontations and military actions that are adding a "war premium" to the price of oil. Depending on the analyst, that war premium has inflated crude oil's price by $10-$25 per barrel. Political unrest in Nigeria and a hawkish stance in Venezuela also items on analysts' radar screens.

Oil prices moved to new highs today as traders continue to weigh concerns coming out of the Middle East. After hitting a new high of $92.22 earlier in the session, prices are now trading up $1.25 to $91.71.

The reasons for today's move are once again tensions in the Middle East, which have helped crude prices jump over 7 percent since Tuesday. There are several factors that are leading to rising prices, so let's take a closer look at each of these contributing factors.

The first factor is tension between Iraqi Kurds and Turkey. This began last week when Kurd rebels from Northern Iraq invaded Turkey and killed 12 members of the Turkish army. This has resulted in Turkey amassing around 100,000 troops along the border between the two countries. There have been reports that Turkey has been firing artillery across the border, and reportedly shelled three different villages in Northern Iraq yesterday.

There have also been reports of an altercation between Israel and Lebanon yesterday. Apparently the Lebanese army fired on Israeli warplanes. This raises the fear that if violence escalates then it would pull in some of the larger oil producers in the region.

Oil prices are continuing today to pull back from their recent highs. Crude has fallen 19 cents, down to $85.08, and were briefly trading down as low as $84.68 earlier in the session.

Last week prices shot up on fear that escalating tensions between Turkey and the Kurds of Northern Iraq could lead to supply disruptions in the area. But those fears have been overlooked during the past couple of sessions as traders are now paying closer attention to American inventory levels.

When the U.S. Energy Department releases its weekly inventory report later this morning, analysts polled by the Dow Jones Newswires are expecting to see crude inventories jump by around 300,000 barrels. If there is indeed a jump in inventories, you can be sure prices will continue to come under selling pressure, but not everyone agrees we will see inventory levels increase. Some industry experts are taking the opposite position and predicting a 2 million barrel decrease last week.

For now, the bears are winning, but we will get a much better picture of the current situation once the actual numbers come out later this morning. I will post the results here as well as the markets reaction.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last two years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer

Oil prices have continued to move higher today, with prices hitting a new record earlier today of $89.00 a barrel before cooling off slightly. Oil is now trading up $0.56 at $88.17.

We took a look at oil yesterday, and noted that the past few sessions' prices have been fueled by tension in the Middle East, and that is once again driving the market today. The recent turmoil between Turkey and the Kurds in northern Iraq have spurred concerns that any further escalation between the two would lead to supply disruptions from the area.

Earlier this week, the Turkish government asked the country's parliament for permission to enter into northern Iraq in pursuit of the Kurdish rebels. That request was approved today, and has set the stage for more violence in the region.

Oil is picking up right where it left off yesterday, charging to new highs again as concerns over a Turkish invasion of Iraq have stoked supply fears again today. After hitting a new intra day high of $87.97 prices have cooled off a bit, and are currently sitting at $87.56.

As we discussed yesterday, the current run up in prices can be traced to concerns that we may see some escalation in activity between Turkey and the Kurds in northern Iraq. Activity in the area is nothing new, but yesterday the Turkish government took things to the next level by requesting permission from parliament to enter into northern Iraq and hunt down the Kurds that have been attacking its country.

As one of our readers, Michael Schneider from Barrelomoney, pointed out yesterday, CNBC is estimating that we could see a loss of about a million barrels of oil a day from the area. There are also other analysts that state that increased conflicts in the area would result in no supply impact since insurgents have been successful in disrupting most of the flow already, so there really does appear to be some confusion on the matter, and that is why I think the rally will continue. It is the uncertainty that leads to fear. Fear leads to panic, and panic leads to $90 oil prices before you know what hit you.

Oil prices are off to a strong start this week, rising above $85 a barrel to $85.02. Earlier in the session prices were all the way up to a new record high $85.20.

Over the past couple of weeks when I have written on oil prices, I have cautioned against assuming oil prices would have to retreat from their recent strong runs. The main reason why I caution against that idea is that there are a couple of factors out of our control right now that could at any point in time lead prices higher. These include (but are not limited to) weather and political unrest. We are in the hurricane season now, and any large storm that forms will result in higher prices. But this not what is behinds today's move.

Today's price jump is in direct reaction to political unrest around the country of Iraq. Yes, I know that hearing about instability in Iraq is nothing new, but what is new is that the most recent tension is not the battle between the U.S. and Iraq. Today's concerns are of mounting tensions between Iraq and its northern neighbor Turkey.

According to a report in Bloomberg, oil is selling in record territory on worries that Turkey may invade Northern Iraq. Uncertainty is never a good thing when it comes to business, and when it's related to oil prices it rocks the world, and potentially the world's economy.

• Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told reporters his country would pursue the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, regardless of diplomatic costs, according to an Agence France-Presse report. Northern Iraq holds some of its largest oil fields, including Kirkuk, the source of much of Iraq's exports.
• "If they start shelling across the border, the price is going to go up,'' said Addison Armstrong, director of market research at TFS Energy LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. "When there is tension in the world, oil gets bid up.''

This unpredictability in the region has kept oil prices up even though demand is not as strong as speculators anticipated during its rise over the last few years. For me, this is an unfortunate irony as I read this news after returning from a breakfast meeting where I told an associate, "Oil will be $60 a barrel before it is $100, unless war breaks out somewhere." This is very sad to me, because just the possibilty of war creates a rise in oil prices that I envision causes more pain for those at the bottom of the economic strata barely getting by now.