Free Republic

Oil prices will stay at current high levels for the rest of this year due to speculation and geopolitical tensions, Algerian state media on Monday reported OPEC President Chakib Khelil as saying. Prices could retreat in 2009 with a recovery of the U.S. dollar in foreign exchange markets following the election of a new U.S. president, and as fundamentals reassert themselves as major market forces, he was reported as saying by government newspaper El Moudjahid and state news agency APS. "Just like the current surge in oil markets, the (world economic) crisis, will last until the end of the year,"...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is endorsing Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. Murkowski says the former Massachusetts governor is a proven leader that Alaskans and other Americans need in the White House in a time of economic uncertainty. Murkowski is announcing her endorsement just days before Super Tuesday, when primaries will be held in numerous states and caucuses will be held other states, including Alaska. The Alaska Republican says she welcomes Romney's promise to work toward the nation's energy independence and his support of opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.