 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 $100 a barrel Wednesday on violence in oil-rich Nigeria, the prospect of more interest rate cuts, a halt in Mexican imports and the expectation of yet another drop in U.S. crude supplies.
" T; z* v6 a8 h0 f$ _
6 T2 b5 Y8 G! h3 }# g* H( a* [/ UU.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.
2 w Z& k3 K c
, F4 \+ m) I0 } p"This market is really gonna fly," Ira Eckstein, president of Area International Trading Corp, said from the NYMEX floor. % x! O# g5 @' N3 o3 g+ E6 [/ s) ]+ c
9 q7 k; w. ?& @& h: y; T
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./ g# W l/ P( m- I8 \7 A
I. L* A, }# p1 r& c
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. |
|