Oil Closes at Record $78.21 a Barrel

Crude oil futures closed at a record $78.21 a barrel on Tuesday, breaking the previous closing-price record of $77.03 set last summer, the Associated Press reported.

Tuesday’s price rose $1.38 in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, AP said.

Meanwhile, the price rose in early trading Wednesday to an intraday record of $78.77 on supply concerns following an Energy Department report, Bloomberg reported.

DOE said in its weekly inventory report that crude stockpiles fell by 3.8 million barrels last week.

Gasoline inventories dropped 6.5 million barrels, while distillates rose 2.9 million barrels, DOE said. Distillates include diesel fuel and heating oil.