VARIOUS: Oil hits record $100 USD a barrel

Record ID: 184401

  • Title: VARIOUS: Oil hits record $100 USD a barrel
  • Date: 3rd January 2008
  • Summary: (BN15) RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS STREETS OF RIYADH VARIOUS CARS IN STREET/ROAD SIGNS TO MECCA AND CENTRAL RIYADH BURJ AL FAISALIA/VARIOUS STREET MORE CARS IN STREET
  • Embargoed: 18th January 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVACUJU44FR7JW6OJA8ACXUL5RNZ
  • Story Text: Oil vaulted to a record $100 a barrel on Wednesday as violence in Nigeria, tight energy stockpiles and a weaker dollar triggered a surge of speculative buying, dealers said.
    Oil's climb to the psychologically key triple-digit price sent stocks tumbling on Wall Street and darkened an already gloomy economic outlook in the United States, battered by a housing crisis and credit crunch.
    U.S. crude traded once at $100 a barrel, up $4.02, then eased back to $99.58 by 2:06 EST (1906 GMT). London Brent crude rose $4.04 to $97.89.
    The White House said it would not open up the emergency crude oil reserve to lower prices, while an OPEC member said the cartel was powerless to bring the market down from its lofty height.
    Crude oil prices jumped 58 percent in 2007, the biggest annual gain this decade. Oil has nearly tripled since 2000 -- driven by rising demand in China and other developing countries, tight stockpile levels and geopolitical turmoil.
    Weakness in the dollar has added to gains across the commodity sector as investors supported the underlying value of products denominated in the softening currency.
    In the United Arab Emirates, a Omani resident said increased oil prices are evident in the higher living costs witnessed even in the oil-rich region.
    ''The rising oil prices is having quite an impact on residents in the region. In this respect, every time we come to Dubai, we notice that prices in general have risen, and every time we ask why that is we are told it's because of the rising prices of oil. Consequently, the price of living has increased, and life itself has become difficult and expensive. In our case in Oman, it's the same story. This phenomenon is hampering the resident's life and impacting its affordability,'' said Rachid Bin Ali Alzidi, in Dubai.
    The United Arab Emirates is part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which also includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The six states represent more than half of the oil reserves of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), with Saudi Arabia being the world's biggest oil producer.
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