The Iraqi minister for oil has slammed President Bush’s claim that the recent decision by Saudi Arabia to increase oil production will help lower the price of crude oil.

This from Bloomberg:

The oil market is “well supplied,” and prices are being driven by “speculative flows” and not supply and demand, [the Iraqi oil minister] said today in an interview in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, at the annual World Economic Forum.

“Everyone is pumping as much as they can at the moment,” he said. “Iraq has added 500,000 barrels over the last six months and it has made no difference.”

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter and the most influential member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said it will increase oil output by 300,000 barrels a day following requests by clients and U.S. President George W. Bush. The Saudi decision had little impact on oil prices, which closed that day at a record $126.29 a barrel in New York after reaching $127.82 during the day, the highest since trading began in 1983.

Brian Hunt says the price of oil is pushing up stocks in the Canadian tar sands sector.

“When oil is trading for $60 a barrel,” says Brian in DailyWealth, “mining the tar sands is a good business. When oil is trading for $80, it’s a great business. And when oil is trading for $120, it’s a money machine.

Read on here to find out one of the institutional investors’ favorite ways to take a position in Canada’s tar sands.