Crude oil prices could triple to $80 a barrel during the first quarter of next year and strangle the world economy under the worst case scenario of a U.S. attack on Iraq, energy experts said on Tuesday.

Crude prices are likely to spike that high if Iraq destroys its oil facilities while retreating from U.S. forces, Iraq uses weapons of mass destruction, and key oil facilities in next door Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are damaged by Iraqi missiles.
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Such a huge jump in oil prices would devastate the global economy, which is already struggling.

» Oil may hit $80 a barrel in war with Iraq -experts