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Oil is traded at $100 per barrel Oil price at record $100 a barrel
(10 minutes later)
Oil has traded at $100 a barrel for the first time.Oil has traded at $100 a barrel for the first time.
Violence in Nigeria and Algeria, the weak dollar and cold weather have all raised prices after the New Year break.Violence in Nigeria and Algeria, the weak dollar and cold weather have all raised prices after the New Year break.
The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) confirmed that a transaction had been made for the benchmark February contract at $100 a barrel. Reaction to the assassination of the former Pakistani prime minister, Benazir Bhuto, also contributed to the rising prices.
There has been some surprise that the trade was made because February light sweet crude was not close to $100 a barrel at the time. Light sweet crude for delivery in February rose $4.02 to trade at $100 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex).
After the single trade had been made at $100 a barrel, the price fell back to $99.46. But some analysts played down the relevance of passing the $100 mark.
"The entire focus on $100 oil is frivolous," said Tim Evans at Citigroup Futures Research in New York.
"It is not a magic number. It doesn't suddenly make this a fundamentally strong market."