Oil Hits $100 a Barrel
Wall Street Journal reports:
Crude-oil futures touched $100 a barrel for the first time in more than two years, lifted by violent unrest and supply disruptions in Libya.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery briefly hit $100 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The last time the contract hit that level was Oct. 2, 2008, when crude prices tumbled from record highs and the U.S. economic recession began to set in.
Oil prices quickly pulled back, recently trading up $4.01, or 4.2%, at $99.41 a barrel. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange, which passed $100 earlier this year, was up $5.58, or 5.3%, at $111.36 a barrel.
Crude prices have soared the last two sessions as demonstrations in oil-rich Libya turned violent and oil companies there said they were suspending production. Uncertainty over how the crisis would continue to unfold is the main factor lifting oil prices to fresh highs, said Mark Waggoner, president of Excel Futures.
"Nobody knows what's going to happen with Moammar [Gadhafi]," Mr. Waggoner said.
Germany's Wintershall AG said it stopped oil production in Libya, where it produces about 100,000 barrels a day. Spain's Repsol YPF said it was suspending operations at the Sharara oil field, which supplies more than 200,000 barrels a day. Other companies, including Italy's Eni SpA, France's Total SA and Norway's Statoil ASA said some operations were being suspended.
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