Crude oil hits a new peak near $108 a barrel
02 Apr 2011
Crude oil prices surged to new highs on Friday with US sweet light crude settling at $107.94 a barrel, the highest in two-and-a-half years.
The spike was aided by a weak dollar and a stronger-than-expected growth in US jobs in March.
Sweet, light crude for May delivery settled at $107.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $1.22 a barrel, or 1.1 per cent, from the previous day.
The contract hit an intra-day high of $108.05 a barrel before settling at $107.94 a barrel.
North Sea Brent crude for May delivery settled at $118.70 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange, up $1.34 from the previous close. It was also the highest closing price of Brent since 21 August 2008.
With the weakness in dollar combined with better-than-expected US economic data and the prevailing situation in the Middle East, traders expect Nymex crude to hit $110 a barrel and above.
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