Oil Prices Hit 2009 High Above $74

New York, NY, Aug. 21, 2009--Oil prices hit a high for 2009 above $74 a barrel on Friday ahead of further pointers on the economic health of the U.S.

Oil is on track for a 7.3 percent gain this week, and was last at this level on Oct. 21, when it closed at $75.22 a barrel on its way down from a record peak above $147.

Tighter regulation of the energy market may take the edge off high prices, Commerzbank said in note on Thursday.

"The significant rise in the oil price in the first half of the year is due in large part to a recovery in investment by financial investors," analyst Eugen Weinberg at Commerzbank wrote in their Commodities Spotlight Energy newsletter.

"If their influence is reduced by the (Commodity Futures Trading Commission's) actions and sanity prevails, the oil price will fall."