Oil Tops $100 for First Time Since June
Oil jumped above $100 a barrel Wednesday, closing over that level for the first time in five months, Bloomberg reported.
Crude futures rose $3.22 to finish at $102.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest closing price since May 31.
Oil last closed over $100 a barrel on June 9, when it finished at $101.93, according to Bloomberg figures
Prices have soared almost $30 in the past six weeks on the Nymex, from the mid-$70s in early October.
The gain Wednesday was due in part to a decision by Enbridge Inc., which will reverse the direction of its Seaway pipeline, adding an outlet for crude from the central U.S. and Canada, Bloomberg reported.
The change may alleviate a bottleneck at the Cushing, Okla., storage hub that has lowered the price of West Texas Intermediate crude, the grade traded in New York, against other oils, Bloomberg said.
Earlier Wednesday, the Department of Energy reported that crude inventories fell by 1.1 million barrels last week.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel, fell by 2.1 million barrels and gasoline supplies rose by 1 million barrels for the week ended Saturday, DOE said in its weekly report.
