Oil Tops $102 a Barrel, Sets New Record
Crude oil prices reached another record close on Thursday, passing the $102 a barrel mark as investor flocked to commodities as a hedge against the falling dollar, Bloomberg News reported.
Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $3 on Thursday, climb-ing to $102.64 and surpassing the previous record of $100.88 a barrel set on Tuesday, Bloomberg said.
Also contributing to oil’s rise was a Thursday report from the Department of Energy that revealed U.S. inventories of natural gas, a competing fuel, declined to levels lower than average for this time of year, Bloomberg reported.
Oil prices are now 66% higher than at this time last year, according to Bloomberg.
