Oil hits highest level since October 2008
Posted April 1, 2010 10:08 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NEW YORK – The price of oil has hit its highest level since October 2008, Thursday, trading at $85 (U.S.) a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil prices have jumped from $69 a barrel in early February on investor expectations that a gradual recovery in the U.S. economy this year will eventually boost crude consumption.
So far, however, demand remains sluggish. The Energy Information Administration said crude inventories rose by 2.9 million barrels last week, slightly more than analysts expected.
Trading volume was low ahead Friday’s holiday, when global oil trading will be closed and when the week’s most anticipated economic indicator, the U.S. unemployment figures, will be released.
Crude traders often look to equity markets as a measure of overall investor sentiment, and all major Asian and European stock indexes rose Thursday.
In other Nymex trading in May contracts, heating oil rose 1.69 cents to $2.1959 a gallon, and gasoline gained 1.29 cents to $2.3201 a gallon. Natural gas advanced 1.7 cents to $3.886 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude was up 61 cents at $83.26 on the ICE futures exchange.
