Crude Price Closed at Record High at $125.96

05-10-2008

Fuel supply concerns and a rush of speculator buying push the oil prices up again and this time over $126 a barrel on yesterday's trading. 

Light Crude closed at $125.96 a barel before rising to a record $126.25 in late post settlement trade.

London Brent crude gained $2.56 to settle at $125.40 a barrel, off the earlier high of $125.90.

During the opening session at the European market on Friday, no one wants to wait for the next pullback as waves of buying materialized particularly from speculative interests.

Oil has surged since slipping as low as $110.53 a barrel on May 1. Investors have seized on disruptions to crude oil supplies in the North Sea and Nigeria, as well as galloping demand for distillate fuels, a category that includes diesel fuel and heating oil.

Strong demand for diesel fuel in Europe, along with the growing use of distillates for generators to supplement strained power grids in fast growing emerging markets, have cut into stocks of distillate fuel and pushed up prices sharply.

The steady rise in crude oil prices once again has turned the spotlight on the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), which for months has insisted it has no control over the factors it blames for pushing up the price of oil, including speculation and the weak US dollar.

An Opec source said the group might consider boosting output before its next scheduled meeting in September.

US President George W Bush said on Thursday he would bring up the subject of oil prices during talks with Saudi leaders during a planned trip to the Middle East.