 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. - v* p2 I; x' G2 N# p: g
t7 g; ^/ v; O- F# h- N
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 $99.29 set Nov. 20. Oil prices ended 2007 by gaining nearly 60 percent for the year, the largest jump this decade.
" J4 C0 J* g* D2 X- a2 @/ q
% S; D# t: v( D' \"This market is really gonna fly," Ira Eckstein, president of Area International Trading Corp, said from the NYMEX floor.
: d9 a) ]- K, A$ i) D O. [9 i9 ~5 i' t7 X, J5 @
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.% A3 b& W, M0 I6 z3 C
4 v5 j/ u# M6 g/ @- T$ }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. |
|