Oil hits $100 record
Price of oil surges to record of $100 a barrel driven by Nigerian unrest and weak dollar
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Wednesday, 02, Jan 2008 07:27
Oil prices surged to a record of $100 (£50.4) a barrel today, driven by unrest in producing countries and the weak American dollar.
The rise has resulted in falling share prices in Wall Street and fears that it could lead to an increase in inflation.
"All of the factors that pushed us above $80 are now moving us higher," said Peter Beutel at Cameron Hanover in Connecticut.
"Until we get more supply or demand starts to take a hit, there is no reason we can't see any number."
Today's surge was triggered in part by ongoing violence in Nigeria, the world's eighth largest oil producer.
A series of attacks yesterday by suspected militants in the oil city of Port Harcourt are reported to have left at least ten people dead.
"With the military and the militant warlords engaged in a violent tit-for-tat, the risk for oil disruptions in Nigeria remains higher than in the past few months," Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix told the Reuters news agency.
The White House has ruled out drawing on US emergency reserves to help bring the price of oil down.
As oil prices rose, gold also reached a record high, priced today above the $850 (£429) an ounce record set 28 years ago.