 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. - n) w# b+ N) C2 p; H7 E
' B" j# t% M% X1 \' }* U! W8 I
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 $99.29 set Nov. 20. Oil prices ended 2007 by gaining nearly 60 percent for the year, the largest jump this decade.0 T+ @8 F% h( ?- p7 ~( y4 g( p) h w
; T* t4 v/ ?7 g' P) P
"This market is really gonna fly," Ira Eckstein, president of Area International Trading Corp, said from the NYMEX floor. , S- t# _$ G* z/ e
/ e5 |9 l2 |/ r0 P- {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.
7 r# r2 z; s% w, w b7 m0 b. c% P! j* X6 I3 @( K( J/ u; X$ x
At 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. |
|