Oil prices leapt to fresh records on Wednesday with London prices crossing 144 dollars a barrel as the US dollar weakened and data revealed a drop in stockpiles of US crude. Brent North Sea crude oil for August delivery surged as high as 144.65 dollars a barrel before settling at 144.26 dollars, up 3.59 dollars.
New York''s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for August, pushed to an intraday record of 143.91 dollars before closing at 143.57 dollars, up 2.60 dollars. In after-hours trade, New York crude swung as high as 144.15 dollars per barrel.
The US Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that stockpiles of crude had fallen by 2.0 million barrels in the week to June 27, accelerating the gains in the futures market.
A weak dollar also helped push prices higher, since oil is quoted in the US currency. The dollar was down against most currencies, pushing the euro to 1.5883 dollars in New York trade.
Phil Flynn at Alaron Trading said oil continued to gain momentum amid worries about the global economy, the dollar and other ills. "Oil is a proxy for everything and an accurate reflection of our deep-seated fears and all of our insecurities," Flynn saipplies - as Western nations contend - but to son that Israel might be planning a military strike against the country''s nuclear sites.Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said Wednesday that Iran would react "fiercely" to any attack against it, which he warned would cause radically higher crude prices.
"Iran, if there were any kind of activity of any sort, is not going to be quiet and would react fiercely," he told reporters on the sidelines of the World Petroleum Congress in Madrid, when asked what Tehran would do in the event of an attack.