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July 4 -- Crude oil fell in London after the Iraqi oil ministry said crude resumed flowing through the nation's main pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Brent crude oil for August settlement fell as much as 59 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $72.80 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. Brent was down 54 pence $73.85 at 1:48 p.m. in London.

Crude exports were interrupted after technical problems and sabotage over the weekend, an oil ministry spokesman who declined to be identified said by phone from Baghdad today. The pipeline can transport as much as 800,000 barrels a day of crude from oilfields around Kirkuk, in northern Iraq.

Brent rose earlier as much as 31 cents to $73.70 a barrel after Iran rejected U.S. and European demands to suspend nuclear research and U.S. gasoline prices rose on holiday demand.

After-hours trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange will resume at 6 p.m. in New York today after being closed yesterday for the Independence Day holiday.