Oil prices hit the highest level since July as a pending United Nations report on Iran's nuclear weapon ambitions raised the possibility of new trade sanctions on the oil-rich country.

Here's how energy prices traded on Tuesday November 8, 2011.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange:

Benchmark crude rose $1.28 to end at $96.80 per barrel.

Gasoline fell 2.18 cents to finish at $2.7064 per gallon.

Heating oil lost less than a penny to end at $3.1161 per gallon.

Natural gas fell 4.9 cents to finish at $3.745 per 1,000 cubic feet. Read more »

World oil prices retreated further on Monday October 31, 2011, in line with the strong dollar and sliding stock markets, as investor enthusiasm waned over last week's eurozone debt deal, analysts said.

New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, dived $1.30 to $92.02 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for December dropped $1.38 to $109.53 a barrel in London late afternoon trade. Read more »

For those who have spent their entire lives in the previously quiet farm towns that dot the northwestern corner of North Dakota, the discovery of oil in the Bakken formation has been anything but fortuitous.

The thousands of people from around the country flocking to these boomtowns has led to a housing shortage and an increase in traffic, crime and frustration among the locals who feel like their small, close-knit towns are now gone forever. Read more »

As has been the case for months the oil complex as well as most all risk asset markets continue to be impacted by the 30 second news snippets hitting the media airwaves around Europe. Last week the market sentiment began to start pricing in a soft landing for the European sovereign debt problems including the positive comments that came from the G20 meeting of finance ministers over the weekend. However, the sentiment quickly changed when Germany suggested that the EU was not likely to solve the debt problems by the October 23rd summit in Brussels. Read more »