Supply Concerns Send Oil Past $133
Runaway oil prices blew past $130 a barrel for the first time Wednesday and kept going, while gasoline prices persisted in their own relentless climb, rising above $3.80 a gallon.
Wednesday’s rally was fed in part by a report from the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration, which said crude inventories fell last week, when analysts expected a modest increase.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery rose as high as $133.38 a barrel in afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange before retreating slightly to settle up $4.19 at $133.17.
In other Nymex trading, June gasoline futures rose 9.21 cents to $3.3965 a gallon, and June heating oil futures rose 13.34 cents to $3.9084 a gallon. Both contracts set new trading records. June natural gas futures rose 27.5 cents to $11.640 per 1,000 cubic feet.
