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Refinery fire, other factors push oil futures above $100
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For the first time, oil futures closed above $100 a barrel as investors bet that crude prices would keep climbing despite evidence of plentiful supplies and falling demand.
There was no single driver behind the jump. Investors responded to an explosion at a 67,000 barrel a day refinery in Texas, the falling dollar, the possibility OPEC may cut production next months, the threat of new violence in Nigeria and continuing tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela.
Oil prices have risen despite recent forecasts that have said oil demand growth will be less than initially expected this year. That suggests they may continue rising as the weakening dollar attracts new investors to the futures market.
Crude futures offer a hedge against a falling dollar, and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors as the dollar weakens.
Oil prices are still within the range of inflation-adjusted highs set in early 1980. A $38 barrel then would be worth from $96 to $103 or more today.
Gas prices continue to rise as well.
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