Oil Tops $106 a Barrel
Crude oil set another record Friday, topping $106 a barrel in intraday trading for the first time before receding to close near $105, Bloomberg reported.
Oil had set a record closing price Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, finishing the trading day at $105.47. Friday’s closing price was $105.15 after reaching an intraday record $106.54, Bloomberg said.
The weakened dollar was helping to push prices higher, as were reports of possible military conflict between South American oil producers Colombia and Venezuela, the Associated Press reported.
Finance firm Goldman Sachs said oil could average $110 a barrel by 2010, up from a previous forecast of $80, and said a price spike as high as $200 a barrel is possible, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
Diesel fuel has soared to records in each of the past two weeks, with the most recent price being $3.658 — more than 20 cents higher than a previous record set in November.
The Energy Department will release its weekly survey of diesel and gasoline prices on Monday.
