Oil prices rose to new 1988 highs...

Oil prices rose to new 1988 highs in nervous trading that brokers attributed to the stock market’s drop and rumors about the scope of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ meeting later this month with non-cartel exporters. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the May delivery price for West Texas Intermediate crude closed up 18 cents per 42-gallon barrel to $18.30, its highest level since a Dec. 11 closing price of $18.31. Refined products traded on the exchange were mixed.