 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.
5 m7 z4 s- @7 e% _( s; C, ^& b) w4 D
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 $99.29 set Nov. 20. Oil prices ended 2007 by gaining nearly 60 percent for the year, the largest jump this decade.
( j8 k5 _- Z( |( c% S+ [$ E' c& |$ P9 `7 ~& \+ N* u2 J
"This market is really gonna fly," Ira Eckstein, president of Area International Trading Corp, said from the NYMEX floor. 6 J! p' ?2 z$ I+ P# E: N' p
) l; @) o; {& s" y1 l+ ]
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.2 J9 y0 n B0 A% n K
# Q) m# O! @% w9 nAt 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. |
|