 鲜花( 168)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices kicked off the first trading day of 2008 by hitting a new high of $100 a barrel Wednesday on violence in oil-rich Nigeria, the prospect of more interest rate cuts, a halt in Mexican imports and the expectation of yet another drop in U.S. crude supplies.
! G9 ^* U3 h& F) V0 k1 z. [+ e: T* {; M$ ]6 [( J
U.S. crude for February delivery jumped $4.02 to $100 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before slipping to $99.42. The previous trading record was $99.29 set Nov. 20. Oil prices ended 2007 by gaining nearly 60 percent for the year, the largest jump this decade.
) N; u3 n4 A4 s( c' H& W
6 [" `; ] C9 E( R5 I"This market is really gonna fly," Ira Eckstein, president of Area International Trading Corp, said from the NYMEX floor.
5 b+ @% T% g; g; C# T' y1 M+ E" v; `. \' F1 O
In Nigeria, bands of armed men invaded Port Harcourt, the center the oil industry Tuesday, attacking two police stations and raiding the lobby of a major hotel, The Associated Press reported. Four policemen, three civilians and six attackers were killed. The Niger Delta Vigilante Movement claimed responsibility for the attack.! l5 E& U' \( N, u2 r% Q
2 X1 o5 u! b6 d' fAt 2.1 million barrels per day, Nigeria was the world's eighth-largest oil exporter in 2006, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency. |
|