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SINGAPORE: Oil prices held close to record highs near $106 a barrel
Friday as the market continued to worry about supplies and a
tumbling US dollar, dealers said.
In afternoon trade, New York’s main oil
contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, rose eight cents
to $105.55 a barrel.
The contract had closed up 95 cents at a record
high of $105.47 a barrel Thursday after rallying to an unprecedented
trading peak of $105.97 in earlier trading at the New York
Mercantile Exchange.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for April
delivery was up 19 cents at $102.80, after settling at a record
finish of $102.61 on Thursday.
The contract had earlier struck a record-trading
peak of $102.95.
“Prices remain strong as the US dollar fell to
record lows,” said Victor Shum of Purvin and Gertz energy
consultants in Singapore.
“Oil and other commodities have been driven by
financial investors seeking a safer haven from the turmoil in
equities.”
Dollar-priced raw materials like oil tend to
gain from the weak US unit because a fall in the dollar makes them
cheaper for buyers using other, stronger currencies.
The dollar has been hit by a stream of weak
economic data in a continuing fallout from a crisis in the US
housing market. The euro has been on a record-breaking run for
weeks, and hit a new high at $1.54 Friday.
The oil market has been bubbling since the OPEC
cartel decided Wednesday not to increase production despite calls
from the West for a hike to help dampen runaway prices that could
threaten global economic growth.
-- AFP
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