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The price of a barrel of oil closed at an all-time high of $104.52 on Wednesday as supply concerns, border tensions in South America, and speculative buying all combined to give traders a powerful "buy" signal. U.S. crude supplies fell for the first time in eight weeks in a sign demand may not be waning as much as was thought. Ira Eckstein is president of Area International Trading. SOUNDBITE: Ira Eckstein, president, Area International Trading "When we had that surprise draw that really surprised a lot of traders and that's what took us above the $104 to $104.25 level and that's a huge breakout. If we could settle just above $103.50 that would indicate that it is really bullish to $107." And oil never fell back to the $103 range as some thought it would. OPEC's decision to keep production steady, despite calls for a rise from President Bush, added to upward pressure. The group said the market was well supplied and it should not be blamed for record prices. Instead it blamed the White House, saying "economic mismanagement" had pushed the dollar lower and fueled speculative buying in the oil markets. But the Bush Administration quickly shot back. U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said tight global supplies was a bigger factor in record oil prices - than a weaker dollar. And while OPEC and the White House seemed locked in the blame game, real tensions were mounting elsewhere. In South America's Andean region, Venezuela, the third biggest exporter of oil to the U.S., beefed-up its military presence on the border with Colombia following that country's raid on Marxist rebels inside Ecuador -- the escalating crisis adding yet another reason for oil prices to climb further. Conway Gittens, Reuters COMPANIES MENTIONED: SYMBOLS: