Alberta wildfire forces oil production cuts, helps drive up crude prices

Washington

SPECULATORS were losing faith in oil's rally before wildfires spread across Canada's oil-sands region, forcing the evacuation of more than 80,000 people and curtailing production.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude sank early last week as Iraqi exports approached a record and Opec (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) production grew to more than 33 million barrels a day. Late in the week, the worst wildfires in the history of Canada's Alberta province - engulfing an area larger than New York City - helped to drive up WTI again.